


Alice's Fall

by IlianaMystery



Series: Avenged [1]
Category: Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero
Genre: AU, Backstory, Betrayal, Broken Heart, Cheating, Coping with Death, Curses, Demons, F/M, Family time, Heartache, PTSD, Reuniting, Revenge, Romance, backstabbing, new start
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-06 02:19:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 54,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11590908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IlianaMystery/pseuds/IlianaMystery
Summary: Part One of Avenged. Alice and Rippen are trying for a baby, the multiverse is in balance, and The Other Side is in peace and harmony. Until trouble brews in the neighboring planets, Naaru and Caluga within The Other Side which is also within the multiverse. The Queen of Naaru, Lady Montague (first name Mirajane) and the Dark Empress of Caluga, Vlurgen are planning some dark things for the multiverse. Lady Montague wants Rippen back (they were married) and Vlurgen wants her ex-husband and daughter back and will do anything in their power to get them back even if the multiverse will be at stake. But that also means that Alice is in the middle of their conflict...so what will happen to her?





	1. Alice

**Author's Note:**

> The full story is called Avenged and this is Book One. The whole story was started back in January of 2016. It's the ultimate fanfiction that includes all of the fandoms that I was in at the time. This is my most prized fanfiction so I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I loved writing it! 
> 
> PS: if you don't know, Alice Rose is Larry's baby cousin and she's married to Rippen now and Lady Montague is Rippen's ex-wife from his past when he was king of Caluga. Also the name of the creature species that I made up for Rippen is called Vitruvian.

“Rip, I want to have a baby,” I suddenly said during dinner. And little did I know that those words came with a price…a very hefty price. But I was set in my ways. I always dreamed of being a mother and I know that Rippen would make a wonderful father…and I did want to give him children since he lost his daughter with Mirajane…

We had been married for a year now and although we just moved into a bigger apartment and had higher rent, I knew that we still could provide for a child since we both had two jobs. I was an elementary school art teacher while Rip was a high school art teacher and we both worked as part-time villains on the side now (Phil didn’t exactly like getting a bigger platform though), but I liked getting to work on side my husband and cousin (although it was weird fighting against the three kids I used to help teach). Anyway though, I just wanted to make him happy and keep him that way even if that meant going through terrible morning sickness and excruciating labor pains. 

Once I said that, he just drank some more of his wine before he answered, 

“Are you sure, Alice? I mean I want to be a father, but are we even financially stable for a baby?”

“I went over our finances last night while you were sleeping. We have enough saved for caring for a baby. I know how much you want to be a father and I want to give you that opportunity.”

“Oh, Alice. That’s why I love you. Why don’t we try tonight?”

“I love the way you think, my devilishly sexy man.”

 

“I hope that worked,” Rip moaned after he carried me to our room and placed me on my bed. Just ten minutes ago, he was fucking me on our cedar wood table after we finished dinner. And man, did he rock my world like every day. I guess we were sex addicts, because whenever we weren’t working, we were fucking somewhere in our condo. But I digress…

“Don’t worry, Rip. If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.”

“And we sure do try and try again. Plus it’s the weekend so we can try many times.”

“I’m looking forward to that,” I whispered before he cuddled closer to me and held me against his chest. 

“I love you so much, Alice. I just hope we have a daughter…”

“Why? Would you not love a son?”

“It’s not that. I just hope we have a daughter that is as beautiful as you.”

“Oh, Rip. That is so sweet. But I hope we have a son that’s as handsome as you.”

“Au contraire, my beautiful wife, maybe they’ll have our combined look.”

“Then they’d be very attractive children."

“They would be. Also, I never told you how sexy you are being a villainess now.”

“Oh, stop it. You’re making me blush. I love being deliciously evil for you, babe.”

“You ARE the women of my bad dreams,” he assured before he took my hand and kissed it. But I didn’t even realize that Larry broke into our condo and made his way into our unlocked bedroom. 

“Aww! You guys are so cute!”

“Larry?!” Rip shrieked. “What are you doing here? I didn’t give you our new address.”

“Yeah, we weren’t expecting you,” I kindly said before trying to cover up my naked body more under the sheets. 

“I just wanted to stop by and have a sleepover!”

“Larry, we had a sleepover at the manor last weekend.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to have another one at your condo. I even brought some movies! I have all of the mystery movies you like, Rippy…and Alice, I have some animation movies you like.”

“Larry, don’t call me Rippy in front of Alice. And you could have told me you wanted to come.”

“Why? She calls you Rippy all of the time and you don’t tell her anything.”

“Larry, she’s my wife. We’re supposed to have pet names. But fine, since you’re already here, why don’t you get settled in the living room while Alice and I get into our pajamas.”

“Okay. I’m going to make some popcorn!” he announced before he left the room. 

I should have known that Larry would break into our condo. I mean I understand that he likes to be around us and enjoys our company, but sometimes he was a bit much. Rip told me he does it more often now that we’re married, I guess because I’m his cousin and he cares about me and wants to make sure that both Rip and I are happy in our new marriage. But he can clearly tell that we are. We’re totally crazy about each other…

After we got into our pajamas, we met Larry in our living room and he was just finishing up the popcorn for whatever movie we were going to watch. Rip wanted to watch a mystery movie so we told him to put on one of his mystery movies. He happily obliged and Rip cuddled with me on our sofa before Larry scooted up by us. 

“Alice, you’re going to love this movie. Rippen and I used to watch it all of the time at the manor.”

“Is this ‘Whispering Willow’, my favorite movie ever?!”

“It is.”

“Wow, Larry, you know me so well. Yes, Alice, you’ll really enjoy this movie. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time it was on.”

“Okay. I just like being with my two favorite boys.”

“But before we start the movie, what were you two talking about?”

“What do you mean, Larry?” Rip angrily asked. 

“I meant that I heard you…”

“Oh, Larry, we were just talking about starting a family,” I quickly answered. 

“You want to have a baby?! I’m going to have a baby cousin?!"

“Well, she isn’t pregnant yet but we hope to have a new edition real soon.”

“I can’t wait. I’m going to spoil my new cousin!”

“Yes, we can’t wait for you to give our child a bunch of Larry merch.”

“Oh, Rip, don’t be like that. We’ll happily accept whatever gift you give our baby.”

“Yay! I can’t wait to hold them and sing to them and play with them…”

“Oh, Larry. You’re going to be such a great older cousin with them like you were to me. I won’t be able to keep them away from the Manor.”

“I will keep that promise too, Alice.”

 

After that night, Rippen and I had sex at least three times every night in order for me to conceive. Unfortunately, every pregnancy test that I would take came out negative and I started to become both irritated and frustrated. I just wanted to make Rippen happy by having a child, yet we were having trouble. But little did I know, my pleas were answered after I stopped taking pregnancy tests.

Tuesday afternoon, Rip, Larry, and I went on a mission again. But things went downhill after that. I started to feel sick all of a sudden to the point that Phil had to zap me back into our own dimension. He didn’t really know how to help me, since he didn’t really get sick like normal humans; but he tried his best to care for me while the other two were still trying to complete the mission. By the time Rip and Larry came back, I wolfed down ten fish sticks on a stick and two large sodas. But somehow, my craving helped keep the sickness down. Phil was just as shocked as me (and he was actually better company then I thought). 

“How was mission? Lost again?”

“Of course, Phil,” Rip huffed. “We always lose. You weren’t watching?”

“No. Talk to Alice while here.”

“Where are my priorities? Alice, are you alright?”

“Rip, I’m fine. Phil is a trip. ..”

“Yes, well, thank you for keeping her company, Phil. Come on, Alice. I’m taking you to my clinic.”

“Okay. Thank you for the fish sticks, Phil. They were really good.”

“Oh, Alice, I know,” I heard him answer back before Rip dragged me out to his car. 

I don’t think I ever saw Rip that nervous or scared for me, but he was today. I mean I was scared too but I think it also affected his performance during the mission. I mean I loved that he cared about me that much, but I didn’t want him to sacrifice his needs and wants for me. 

“How many of those fish sticks did you eat?” he suddenly asked. 

“Ten. I just had this weird craving for fish.”

“Ooh, did you try some with lemon?” Larry asked from the back seat. “They’re really good.”

“I had seven with lemon. They were pretty good.”

“Enough of that. How are you feeling right now?”

“I’m fine, Rippen. I just feel full.”

“You really scared me on this mission.”

“I’m okay. You’re so cautious with me. “

“You’re my wife. I’m supposed to be worried about you and care about your well-being. I love you too much to lose you,” he assured before he held my left hand.

“I know. I love you too, silly.”

“Aww! You guys!”

“Larry!”

“You two are such a trip,” I moaned. 

“Well, we’re here,” he suddenly said as we pulled into a parking spot. Once he got out, he helped me get out of my seat and had to let Larry out by putting my seat down. He held on tight to my hand as we walked into the office and Larry walked behind us. The waiting room was huge and had a big screen TV on the west wing, so Larry sat down to watch whatever was on TV while Rip and I went to sign in. 

A heavy set brunette woman turned her chair around to face us and opened her little window to ask if we had an appointment or if we were walk in before she realized she knew Rip. 

“Good afternoon. Do you have an appointment or are you walk-in?”

“Good afternoon, Anita.”

“Oh, Rippen! I wasn’t paying attention. How have you been?”

“Well, I’ve been married to this lovely woman for a year now…”

“That’s right. Marnie sends her apologies for missing your wedding. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Van Winkle. I’m Anita, the receptionist.”

“Nice to meet you too, Anita.”

“We’re walk-in. Is Marnie available?”

“Actually, one of her appointments cancelled, so you’re in luck. She’ll be right with you after you fill out this new patient form,” she said before she handed me a clipboard. “Oh, and Rip, tell your little friend I said hi.”

“Well, he came with us. He’s into whatever is on the TV.”

“Oh, okay.”

About five minutes after I finished all of the paperwork. I was called to the back. Rippen held onto my hand for dear life since he wanted to go to the back with me. I was always fascinated with how doctor’s offices looked since I was a kid, so I just looked around before we were led to the last exam room in the eastern corridor. 

“Dr. Thompson will be with you shortly,” the assistant told us before she left. 

“That’s Marnie, by the way,” he told me. “You’ll like her. She’s very sweet.”

“Well, that’s reassuring. I hope all of this means I’m pregnant.”

“I guess we’ll just see. But it is always fun to try again.”

“I still want to have celebratory sex if I am.”

“That’s fine by me, Alice,” he assured before he kissed me. 

“Hello!,” Dr. Thompson chirped once she walked into the room. “It’s nice to see you again, Rip. Oh, and you must be the misses. It’s nice to meet you…Alice.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.”

“So, it looks like Mrs. Alice is here to see me. So what’s the problem?”

“Well, we’ve been trying to conceive for some time now and we’ve had some problems…but I got really sick a few minutes ago and we’re thinking that this might mean I’m pregnant now.”

“Okay…well, that does sound like morning sickness…but just to be sure, I’ll have you take a couple of tests. It’ll only take two days to process and I’ll call you to come back.”

“Okay…”

After I was done taking tests, I met Rippen back in the exam room before Dr. Thompson gave us the receipt for our trip and walked us out. Larry was talking to Anita when we got back into the waiting room so Rippen had to get him. Then there was the car ride...

“So, are you pregnant?” Larry happily asked. 

“Larry, we’re not going to know until Thursday.”

“Oh, okay.”

“We are hopeful though.”

“Yes, we are. And although we are unsure, Alice, I don’t want you to go on any more missions.”

“Wait, what? You can’t be serious.”

“I am serious. Do you know how terrified I was? You’re staying home. If this is morning sickness, it’s going to get worse.”

“It’s nothing, really, Rippen. This is just a normal part of pregnancy…if that’s what it is.”

“Yes, but you may be pregnant with a Vitruvian child.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Isn’t that what you are, Rip?”

“Yes, that’s what I am. But I’m also half demon, so it’s a bit worse. But anyway, Vitruvian babies are much more fussy in the womb than human babies. Therefore, morning sickness is not a joke. I would feel more comfortable if you stayed home. They can also be unpredictable. But our unborn baby is also part demon, so that means they could be really unpredictable.”

“Oh, I see.”

“I know I should have told you before. I’m sorry. It was selfish of me not to. I just really want a child and I didn’t want you to be afraid of carrying said child for me.”

“It’s okay, Rip. I understand. I’m willing to go through this for you.”

“No, no. You’re doing this for us.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

҉҉҉  
Thursday couldn’t come quick enough. And I hated not being able to do missions with my two favorite guys. But Rippen was right. I was throwing up constantly and kept on wolfing down the rest of the highly salty food we had left (Rippen and I are practicing pescatarians and we’re trying to watch our diets) that he went out to get for me. 

But he was so romantic when he came back home. He had a to-go bag from Fish Stick on a Stick for me and a large soda as well as flowers and chocolates. We shared the chocolates while lying on our bed before he started a soothing bubble bath for us. Then we both fell asleep after sharing a little intimacy.

The next day, Rippen allowed me to both teach at the elementary school and go back to our headquarters as long as he could pack my snacks and lunch to make sure that my morning sickness stayed at bay. Of course he didn’t want me to go on missions still, so I just kept Phil company. But while we were just starting to talk, I got a phone call from the clinic.

“Who that, Alice?” Phil asked after I hung up.

“It was just a doctor from Rippen’s clinic.”

“You still sick?”

“A little. Salty foods help keep down my nausea. I might be pregnant though.”

“I saw that. You ate fish sticks, stop throwing up. I not know you want to start family.”

“Rip and I both want to. We’re finding out if I’m pregnant today after they finish the mission.”

“Oh, well, miss you yesterday. It not the same without you now.”

“Yeah, I missed going on the mission too. If I am pregnant, I can’t go on any more missions for a while.”

“What a shame. Wish you well.”

“Thanks. It’s funny actually. I got a billion texts from the trio next door. We’re supposed to be enemies now, yet they were so worried about me on Tuesday.”

“You Larry cousin…for real.”

“Yeah, we Rodgers and Zieglers are way too nice for our own good. It skipped my old man though.”

“I see. Time to bring idiots back.”

I just laughed after he said that. Those three had the weirdest work relationship and I felt like I was the only one trying to figure Phil out. I guess that was just the feminine side of me though. Once they got back, Rip quickly kissed me before helping me up. 

“Did you get the call?” he asked.

“I did. I scheduled the appointment for 5:15.”

“Well, then let’s head out. See you, Phil.”

“Yeah! Bye, Phil!”

“Goodbye.”

I swear Rip had his foot on the gas a little too hard, but I knew he was just as anxious as I was to see the results. Luckily for both of us, we were called to the back almost as soon as we signed in. Dr. Thompson even quickly came into the room clutching onto the results. 

“Hello, again. So how are you feeling?”

“Marnie, we’re so anxious. We need to know if we’re expecting.”

“I understand, Rippen. I know you’re going to be the best father for your child.”

“Thank you, Marnie.”

“And you’re going to be a wonderful mother, Alice. So with that being said, the results are in. Alice, you are pregnant!”

“I am?!”

“She is?!”

“Actually, you’re a couple of weeks in…so the morning sickness is normal. And salty foods do calm down the symptoms, so good on that. But, anyway, are you excited?!”

“Yes! Thank you so much.”

“But before you go, I would like to give you a couple of pamphlets and a little advice about Vitruvian babies.”

“Wait, how do you know about that?” But by the time I asked, she already stepped out. 

“What’s going on, Rip? Is this another secret I should know about?”

“This clinic is Vitruvian friendly considering the fact that everyone here is Vitruvian. They’re in disguise.”

“Oh. I knew that. I guess I just forgot.”

“Okay, Toni,” he teased. 

“Whatever, Vlad,” I answered back before he kissed me. 

“Alright, here are all of the instructional pamphlets you’ll need,” she said before she handed them to me. “I also want to prescribe some special prenatal vitamins for you to take. One a day, every day.”

“Okay. So what are the tips you wanted to give us.”

“Oh, yes. I almost forgot. First off, Vitruvian babies only take two trimesters to develop. You’re only going to be pregnant for six months. Now, since you are a human, this may be a different endeavor for you. They are also kinda fussy in the womb. Right now, you’re craving salty foods and battling morning sickness but by the time you’re 3 months, you will start to crave more sweet foods and your sex drive will increase. So, Rip, you’re going to have to accommodate for all of her sexual needs.”

“I have that covered already.”

“I guess you two are very sexually active.”

“Yes, yes, we are,” he answered.

“I would like you two to come back once she’s three months for another check-up. You two also have the option of finding out what the baby’s sex is.”

“We would like that option.”

“Most do, Rip. And the rest of the information is in the pamphlets. I’ll see you two again in two months. Congratulations again.”

“Thank you, Marnie.”

“No problem. I’ll walk you two out.”

҉҉҉҉҉҉  
That night, I was so excited that I called all of my family to tell them the good news. Phil had called too to find out so we told him and I had the long conversation with Penn via text, which Rip wasn’t that happy about. But I was excited. I wanted everyone I knew to know. Rip was excited too though. He kept on rubbing on my tiny belly while whispering sweet nothings in my ear. And I was going to look over all of the pamphlets Marnie gave me until Rip stopped me. 

“Are you ready for celebratory sex?” he asked while he leaned against the door to our room.

“You know I am,” I chirped before I threw my phone and the pamphlets to the side. 

He came over as soon as I said that and leaned over to kiss me before he pounced like a jungle cat. I wrapped my arms around his muscular neck so fast before I felt his tongue. But I did also have the habit of working my fingers through his hair as he French kissed me. He really wanted to kiss me again though, because he pulled me closer to where I could feel his heart beating. He wanted me and he wanted me now. 

Then my phone rang and the moment slipped away…

“Whose still texting you?” he asked.

“It’s no one…”

“It’s Penn, isn’t it?”

“Maybe.”

“He’s your enemy now too. Gosh, why are you so much like Larry?”

“Cause I’m his cousin. But I know you still love me.”

“Why don’t you tell Penn that you’re busy now? Tell him your man is trying to show you a good time.”

“Ooh, Rip! Am I about to get my jolly rancher?”

“Yes, Alice, you’re about to get your jolly rancher.”

I didn’t text Penn back, but I did drool at the thought of tasting my jolly rancher again. And it wasn’t the candy, no, it was my nickname for Rip’s dick. He was so embarrassed though the first time we had sex. You see, for some reason, his dick is a brighter green than the rest of his body; but I tried to lighten the mood by calling it my jolly rancher.   
He came back into our room with a bright green condom on and gave me the sexiest bedroom eyes before he motioned me to come closer to him. I would always take the bait and kneel down before I looked up at him. He would smile and tell me what flavor condom he was wearing before I would give him head. 

“What flavor is my jolly rancher tonight?” I asked in a seductive way. 

“Oh, it’s just green apple…your favorite.”

I just smiled when he said that before I went down on him. I grabbed onto his thighs to steady myself before he gently held my neck in place so I could suck while he thrusted himself inside my mouth. I loved the way it tasted and I guess that helped me pleasure him because he was moaning and yearning for me to keep going. 

Five minutes later, he yanked himself out of my mouth before he helped me up and mashed his lips against mine again. 

“Did you like your jolly rancher?” he asked after he parted from my lips. 

“Oh, yes. Yes, I did.”

“I thought you would,” he said with a chuckle before he picked me up and laid me on our bed. “I want to try something different.”

“Different?”

“Yeah. Different.”

When he said different, he meant different. I thought we had tried every sexual position there was to try but he had another one up his sleeves. He instructed me to bend my left leg before he came over and squatted down between my legs before I felt him inside of me. I moaned in satisfaction before I reached up to hold onto his neck. He made me go crazy by the way he was thrusting in and out of me. But we had to stop eventually. 

I was exhausted after we made love twice, but Rippen was still full of energy. He giggled a little before he scooped me up in his arms and kissed my neck and breasts. 

“How’s my beautiful, pregnant wife? I tired you out, didn’t I?”

“I guess you did. I’m just so happy. Thank you. That was the best celebratory sex we ever had.”

“No problem. You deserved it. You’re carrying my child. I can’t wait to be a father.”

“You’re going to be such a wonderful father too.”

“Thank you, Alice,” he whispered before he rubbed my tummy again. “You have a wonderful mother. You’re so blessed to have her.”

“Oh, Rippen,” I started before I put my hand over his. “Are you going to give Freddie to our child? I’m sure he’ll give them as much comfort as he gave you.”

“Of course. I’ll definitely give him to our child.”

“I just hope we’ll be the best parents to our child.”

“We will be. Don’t worry, Alice. It takes a village to raise a child. I know that your family, especially Larry, will love and support them just as much as us.”

“And what do you think they’re going to call Phil?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Uncle?

“Uncle Phil. I like that. Reminds me of my childhood.”

“I figured you would.”


	2. Rippen

I hated not having my sexy villainess wife with me on missions now, but I had to look out for the wellbeing of her and our unborn child. Some days, I would zap back and find her talking to Phil (but only if she felt well enough to go out). I mean she was still working at the school though, but she needed to rest after… I insisted that she did. On the days she stayed home after school, I would find her lounging on our sofa in her catwoman lingerie, before she seduced me to have sex with her. And I took the bait every time though.

But I also hated how poor her diet was now. I was still practicing my pescatarian diet, but all she craved was salty, unhealthy food that I had to go out and buy for her along with my own food. I didn’t care about a little weight gain, but I had to make sure that as soon as my child was born, her diet would go back to what it was. And boy, did she eat a lot every day. It seemed like every five seconds she was hungry again. I almost felt like she was eating for more than two.

Luckily, for both of us, the end of her first trimester quickly came and we were prepared to find out what sex our baby was. But I was curious as to why her belly was bigger than I thought it would be…

We made the appointment that Saturday morning, so we rushed out of bed to head to the clinic. I had butterflies in my stomach on the ride there, walking in, waiting in the waiting room, and waiting for Marnie to meet us in the ultrasound room. When she finally came in, she was with another doctor.

“Good morning, guys! How’s your pregnancy been going, Alice?”

“It’s been going. It’s been a fun ride. I just ate ten pints of ice cream yesterday.”

“And Rippen, have you been tending to her sexual needs?”

“Yes. I always do,” I answered while winking at Alice.

“Well, okay. This is Dr. Velma Robertson. She’ll be doing your ultrasound today. Now, if you would excuse me, I have another patient to see. I’ll be back in a few.”

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Van Winkle. I’m Velma, like Marnie said, so let’s get this show on the road.”

I held on tight to Alice’s hand while Velma was rubbing the fluid on her stomach and starting up the ultrasound. But the butterflies didn’t subside. I just wanted to know what we were having.

“Okay. Let’s see what’s going on in there…so I’m starting to see the baby, but it looks like there’s more than one baby inside you.”

“More than one?” I asked.

“Yeah, I think you guys are having twins.”

“Twins?! We’re having twins?!” Alice asked in a shocked tone.

“Yep. And I’m starting to see their genitalia. Looks like you’re having female twins.”

“Oh, I can see them,” I happily chirped. “I’m already in love with them.”

“I see them too. They’re beautiful,” Alice observed before she started to tear up. “I can’t believe I’m going to be a mother in another three months.”

“And I, a father in another three months…”

“Aww! You two are the cutest couple I’ve been lucky to service in all of my years of medical service. I think you both with make wonderful parents.”

“Thank you.”

“Well, I’m developing the ultrasound pictures for you now. Marnie will bring you a frame. Well, I wish you both the best of luck on raising your bundles of joy. It was nice to meet both of you.”

“I can’t believe we’re having twins,” Alice said after Velma left.

“Me either. That doesn’t run in my family.”

“My Aunt Gwendolyn and Uncle Langston are twins. And Grunties Irma and Greta are twins. That might be why.”

“Oh, I forgot about that. That makes sense. I don’t recall any twins on my side of the family.”

“Hey again, guys!” Marnie chirped when she came back into the room. “I heard the good news! Congratulations! I have your pictures and complementary frame.”

“Thank you, Marnie.”

“No problem, Rip. You two have a good day. I’ll see you out.”

 

I was so ecstatic to find out that we were having twins and twin girls at that. It was like the universe was paying me back for the loss of Phoenix finally and two fold. Alice was more excited than me though. As soon as we left the clinic, she called Larry, Phil, and all of the trio (to my dismay…I really hated how much she was like Larry…but I guess that’s a Ziegler/Rodgers thing). After she was done with that, she begged me to get her some ice cream, so I did before we got back home.

She ran into our room with a pint of ice cream and turned on the TV in a hurry before wolfing down her mint chocolate chip ice cream. I just stood by the door frame and watched her before she noticed I was just staring at her and offered me some of her ice cream.

“Why are you just standing there? You want some?”

“I don’t really like mint. You’re just so beautiful.”

“You tell me that all of the time.”

“Because it’s true. You have the same glow you had when I first made love to you that Friday night. Do you remember that night?”

“It was a peaceful evening. March 15th to be exact. How can I forget? March 24th was when you asked me to be your girlfriend…”

“And May 12th, two years later, was when I asked you to marry me.”

“Yeah. And we got married on June 7th. How can I forget? That reception was really fun.”

“Yes, Larry went all out on that.”

“He did. I was just happy all of my family, friends, and my favorite students came to support us. I just can’t believe it took fourteen years for me to figure out that Middleburg was where I belonged.”

“That’s not your fault. That was all Kenneth’s doing.”

“I know. I’m just glad you two sorta get along now.”

“Yeah, as much as Penn and I do for your sake,” I remarked before sitting by her.

“I love you for trying though,” she assured before she kissed my cheek. “But why are you bringing up all of those dates?”

“I just like to have some good memories,” I started. “You already know how miserable my life used to be. You make me a better man. I’ve been trying to prove myself for so long…but I don’t have to do that with you…anyway, those pictures are going in our memory book Larry made us for our wedding.”

“I figured that. But I think this has more to do with Mirajane. Are you afraid something is going to happen to us?”

“Why would this have to do with Mirajane?”

“I read one of your old diaries. You kept all of the important dates in your marriage to Mirajane. It’s like whenever something starts going right for you, you start to panic and doubt that you can have good luck.”

“You’re right, Alice. I just don’t want to lose you. I mean I’ve come to the conclusion that my sister thrives on my misery. Once she finds out about this, she’ll be out to ruin me again.”

“I should have known this was about Vlurgen too. She won’t find out about us. She can’t hurt us. I’m not letting her harm you. I’ll stab that bitch if I have too.”

“I appreciate your effort, Alice. But she’s too powerful. She’s the Mistress of Chaos and Discord. Trouble follows her. She feeds on the misery of others, especially me.”

“I know the story, Rip. But you have to stand up to her one day. I know she’s made your life a living hell for thousands of years, but you have to stand your ground.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about, it’s you. I don’t want to lose you Alice! I love you more than I loved Mirajane. You just complete more than she did. You’re my everything. I don’t want her to hurt you. You’re innocent. The only thing you’ve ever been guilty of is loving me.”

“Oh, Rip, I don’t care about your troubled past, or the fact that you’re thousands of years old, or the fact that you’re green…I love you for you. You are rough around the edges, but I know and I’ve seen the big heart that you have behind your rough exterior. You need to forget about Vlurgen for this family. I just need you to be the perfect father I know you can be for our girls and I need you to be my fearless and perseverant husband, the man that I fell in love with and married,” she told me before she touched my face and lightly kissed my lips.

“I love you too, Alice.”

“I know. Now do you want to watch a movie?”

“Can I cuddle up to you?”

“Sure.”

 

I was moved by how strong Alice was. I mean this innocent human woman had to deal with my baggage and I hated that she had to. She didn’t have to marry me. She could have had a normal life with a normal husband, yet she chose to deal with my faults and issues and learned to love me through it all. And she even wanted to go through a traditional Vitruvian pregnancy for me just so I could be a father like I always wanted to be. Alice was a keeper and I didn’t want Vlurgen to take her from me. But still my subconscious wasn’t as relaxed as I had promised Alice. I still had violent flashbacks of my sister’s ambush and the last time I held Mirajane before I ran back to the palace and snatched

Freddie up from where he was lying. I started to shake to the point that I had to grab Freddie from my nightstand and hug him while Alice had fallen asleep. I got so worked up that I ran to our bathroom and splashed water on my face. But then I thought I saw her shadow behind me, so I jumped and ran back into our room. I think all of my commotion woke Alice up too and she just stared at me when I ran back.”

“Rippen, what are you doing?” she asked before yawning. “Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost.”

“I thought I saw…”

“You thought you saw Vlurgen, didn’t you? You’re choking poor Freddie there. Man, let the poodle breathe, babe.”

“I’m sorry for waking you.”

“Come here. Let Alice calm you down,” she instructed before she motioned me to come over. I went by her and lay down sideways before resting my head on her lap. She started working her fingers through my hair and smiled at me before asking,

“So you had another violent flashback?”

“Maybe.”

“Vladimir Rippen Van Winkle! I know you had a violent flashback. Whenever you do, you’re clutching onto Freddie for dear life, like you are now. I know you.”

“Alice, you know I hate my first name.”

“I said it to get your attention. I know you hate it though. The last person that called you that was Mirajane before she died in your arms.”

“You know me well, Toni. You know me well.”

“Don’t start, Rip. I’m not Toni anymore.”

“Well, you started.”

“Now there’s the man I married. I’ll stab a bitch that goes up against my man. Nothing will happen, Rippen. I will always be here for you.

“I’ll try to remember that…and you’ve been around Sashi too long.”

“I guess I have. I did just buy some stabbing knives the other night. But it’s all out of love, babe.”

“I know, Alice. I know.”


	3. Xander

“I’ve finally found your father.” 

Those words hit me like a brick. I spent over a hundred years trying to find my biological father, but I kept failing for some reason. But I did get some help. The six foot four woman with bright red hair and green eyes was monitoring every screen showcasing every place on Earth that she was under the jurisdiction of. She was supposedly the Guardian of Earth, but I knew that my father was exiled to Earth…that was the only thing I knew about him. I figured she could find him and she succeeded.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“Let’s see. It says he lives in a small town called Middleburg. Now, why does that place sound familiar?”

“I have no idea, Joy. I just need to know where that is.”

“Not so fast, Xander. I wouldn’t just barge into his life right away. The time is not right.”

“Why wouldn’t the time be right? He’s my father and I need to meet him!” I declared before I went to the screens and started to toggle with them. But I stopped once I got to one picture. “Who’s that?”

“The reason why I don’t want you to barge into your father’s life so soon…he’s married again and has twin daughters on the way.”

”Oh, he’s remarried and has a new family.”

“Xander, he was lonely for over a hundred years. That’s a long time to be miserable.”

“I guess it is.”

“It’s okay, Xander. You can still make an effort to meet him.”

“My mother will be upset, though.”

“She chose power over coming clean to your father. I know you were trying to hide from your aunt, but she could have come clean a long time ago.”

“Yeah, she should have. But he’s moved on, so I guess I should too.”

“No, you are going to meet him. Your aunt has plans, plans that need to be stopped.”

“What does that have to do with my father?”

“Myrim won’t let me say.”

 

“Exactly. I’m going to head out. Thanks for the help though.”

“Your majesty,” her assistant called over the intercom. “Gabriel is here to see you.”

“Send him in,” she answered back.

“Is something wrong in Middleburg, Joy?!” he suddenly asked after he walked in. “Oh, hey Xander. What brings you here? How’s your mother. Tell her I said hi.”

“Hello, Gabriel.”

“Lady Montague is fine, Gabriel. And nothing is wrong. I found his father.”

“Vladimir?”

“Precisely. He goes by his middle name now though.”

“I see. Well, your father is doing quite fine now. He met and married a lovely young woman. Michelle nursed her by herself before she was sent to Earth. We called her Miracle.”

“She’s not much of a Miracle,” I remarked.

“In his defense, he thought that you and Montague were dead, Xander. Now, how’s our lovely Xiomara?”

“That’s why that place sounded familiar! I remember now.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“She’s fine, Gabriel. She’s dating that red headed kid I told you she would date. You owe me 50 bucks.”

“Fair game, Joy,” he said before he handed her the money. “You know your children so well, even though I found her the perfect home.”

“She’s still one of my children, Gabriel. She was destined to be good, not bad like her mother.”

“Who’s Xiomara and why are you placing bet on which she’s going to date?”

“She’s your cousin. You see, your aunt had a daughter…”

“But we felt she was unfit to raise a daughter. We knew she was destined for greatness, just not the greatness that Vlurgen had set out for her…”

“So I took her one night and Gabriel brought her to Elysium where Michelle nursed her until Gabriel and I found the perfect home for her…”

 

“It took some years, but finally we found a perfect home for her so I sent her soul to Earth and she ended up in Middleburg.”

“This Japanese family adopted her…the Kobayashi’s. She doesn’t know about her past though. We wiped her memory. She goes by Sashi now.”

“So let me get this straight, I have a cousin that I didn’t even know about and the better question would be, does my father even know about his niece?”

“Actually, the irony is they’re mortal enemies. You see, the red headed kid she’s dating is always thwarting your father’s plans with her help and the help of this other chubby kid,” Gabriel explained.

“So I guess he doesn’t know.”

“Nope, he has no idea,” Joy answered.

“Great. I’m not the only family he has no clue about.

“Xander, when the time is right, you’ll meet him. It’s just not the right time right now.”

“This is going to be a very awkward reunion,” I remarked. “Thanks for your help, Joy. I’m going to investigate a little further.”

“He’s going to see Michelle isn’t he?” Gabriel asked after I left.

“I think so.”

 

Once I thought about it, it made more sense that my father would move on from his past. I would always hear my mother talking to her friends about how sensitive he was and how he had the tendency to repress bad memories. Her friends would always joke about how frail he sounded, like he was human, although he was born into one of the most ruthless royal dynasties in all of Vitruvia. But my mother loved that about him and she was shocked that he would even think about marrying her, since Calugans and Naaruians were mortal enemies. I also heard that on Earth, he was trying to prove himself to his family in the past by trying to be evil, although he failed a lot…ergo the red headed kid, Xiomara, and the chubby kid they were talking about. But I really wanted to know who this Miracle was and if she was even fit to be my father’s new wife. I knew I would have to bump into her when I met him, so I needed to know what I was up against. So I went to Michelle and Gabriel’s house in Elysium to find out what was going on, since they had  
every magical being and humans’ file in storage. I figured Michelle would still be home, since Gabriel stayed behind with Joy.

When I got there, the door was unlocked so I walked in and heard my girlfriend and their daughter, Ayvah, laughing in their storage and surveillance room. She was always with her friends, Kasumi and Ravinia, in New Luminia or visiting her real father, Lezazu the Rogue Demon of the Underworld; so it surprised me that she was even here. She was sitting in Michelle’s ornamented chair, but she didn’t even notice me behind her. And she could usually sense anyone behind her with her two tall goat horns on top her head.

I looked over at the screens and they were displaying two different things. The left side of screens had one scene and the right side had another scene. I mean I knew Ayvah could concentrate on more than one thing, but that was really impressive. I couldn’t even focus on one thing. I tried to get a little closer, but then I tripped over a cord and she quickly turned around and jumped to help me up.

“Xander! What are you doing here? How long have you been behind me?”

“About five minutes or so. Where’s your mother?”

“She went to visit Madame Joanni. And daddy went to visit Joy.”

“I know. I bumped into him earlier. Figures. They don’t like you in here. Why aren’t you with your real father or at least hanging out with your friends? You’re never really here.”

“Father had a previous engagement. Today’s Tasumi’s birthday, so Kasumi’s home celebrating with them. And Ravinia wanted to spend some time with Malone since he’s going to be home for the next week or so.”

“Oh. So you’re taking advantage of the fact that your mother is gone. Because I know she doesn’t like you in here without her.”

“I know. She’s so secretive. I always come in here when they’re gone. I found some new people to spy on. Those people’s lives are my soap opera. What about you? Isn’t Lady Montague going to be mad that you’re gone?”

“Not really. She doesn’t care about me. All she cares about is reclaiming her former beauty and cackling with her friends. She only cares about the fact that I look like father. She always calls me the last piece she has of my father.”

“Well, you do have his hair, eye color, nose, and ears with your mother’s purple skin…and his accent because of the ‘weird guy’.”

“Sir Malfus, you mean. I found out the other day. I still have no idea why he put this spell on me though. When I asked mother, she didn’t want to tell me. And I also have the middle name that the guys in our family share.”

“I can’t believe you found out. And I forgot about that. Doesn’t he go by that name now on Earth? I thought he would be ashamed of it, honestly. He had the worst childhood ever.”

“Yeah, wait, how did you know that? Michelle doesn’t let you go through these files. And I thought you didn’t know about the whereabouts of my father.”

“I always knew where he was. I mean Michelle and Gabriel raised me…I’m going to know a little bit about everything. And I go through his file all of the time…well, him, Xiomara, and Miracle.”

“You mean Sashi and Alice?”

“Yeah, whatever. Is that why you’re here?”

“What do you mean? Why can’t I just visit my girlfriend?” I asked before I put my arm around her shoulder.

“I know you, Xander. You’re so predictable,” she remarked before she threw my arm off of her.

“You want the dirt on my mother’s favorite daughter. Fine, I’ll let you read her file. But I’ll just let you know now, she is a woman after my mother’s own heart. She really loves and cares about your father. If you want more proof, I have their wedding video on file…”

“No. no. I would rather go through her file.”

“Fine. Suit yourself,” she told me before she handed me her file. “Now I have to rewind all of this video before mama gets suspicious.”

“Wow. She is really pretty.”

“Xander,” she moaned.

“But I still love you, Ayvah.”

“Whatever.”

“Ayvah! I’m home!” Michelle called from the front door. “Where are you, sweetheart?”

“I’m here, mama,” she said after she walked out of the room.

“Ayvah! What are you doing in there?! You know Gabriel will have a fit.”

“You don’t like me in here either.”

“I don’t. Our job is none of your concern, sweetie,” she explained before she hugged her.

“Okay, mama.”

“What were you doing in there anyway?” she asked before she came by the door. “Xander? Is that you?”

“Hey Michelle.”

“I keep on forgetting you two are dating. How’s your mother?”

“She’s fine. I’m sorry for intruding.”

“Is that Miracle’s file in your hand? And Ayvah, were you spying on Xiomara and her boyfriend again?”

“Yeah. I wanted to know more about her. Joy located my father today.”

“I see. I just hope you’re not doing Lady Montague’s dirty work.”

“My mother setting me up to do her dirty work? Oh never, Michelle.”

“Xander.”

“She doesn’t know about his new wife yet. I just found that out today.”

“And yes, mama, I was spying on Xiomara again. I wouldn’t think you would mind. I just wanted to make sure one of your children were okay.”

“Yeah, sure you were, Ayvah. I know you. She’s fine. I know she is.”

“Well, daddy still owes Joy 50 bucks for that bet.”

“I know. I should have bet him too. I figured they would date. I know my children. But Xander, if you want to know more about Miracle, then I’ll tell you about her.”

“Please, could you? I’m curious…for myself you know.”

“Okay, Xander. Fine. Where to begin? Where to begin? Oh, I know.” She went to her book shelf and picked up what looked like an old journal and set it down on their glass top and crystal encrusted table. We all sat down around it before she opened the book up. And apparently, every page had a holographic scene/memory that accompanied it.

“Okay. So Miracle was the first human life I created on my own without Gabriel’s help. I formed her out of a cloud and when she was finished developing into a human baby, she never really cried and she had such infectious laughter. All of the angels here loved her and we all spoiled her rotten. Gabriel and I always want to help the infertile, but I wanted to make sure that Miracle went to a worthy and loving family. We stumbled across the Ziegler and Rodgers families and decided they would be a perfect match. Now, we had already helped the Rodgers family before. One of my best friends, Emmanuel, went to Earth and helped an infertile couple in that family…”

“Is that Larry?” Avyah asked pointing at the hologram.

“Yeah. He goes by that now. I visit him every now and then.”

“Xander, you probably don’t know this, but he’s your dad’s loyal henchman. He’s not really evil, but he’s the only friend your dad ever had.”

“That’s right, Ayvah. He was meant to be your father’s guardian angel in the long run. We were already aware of the fate of your father and how miserable he was going to be in exile, so we had a contingency plan. But anyway, a Ziegler daughter married a Rodgers son, but they were having trouble conceiving, so Gabriel and I decided to send her to Earth to help them. It was hard giving her up, but it was nice to see them happy and to see their families blessed by her infectious laughter and joyful personality. She was created after my own heart, so she shares all of the same qualities as me. Her parents, Alice Rose Ziegler and Kenneth Adam Rodgers, named her Toni Collette…”

“I thought her name was Alice now.”

“It is. I didn’t get to that part yet. Now, the Rodgers were a family of engineers, mathematicians, and educators whereas the Zieglers were a family of artists and educators. Kenneth was an engineer, Alice was a painter and owner of an art shop, Rosalynn Ziegler (the matriarch) was an English professor at a HBCU, Timothy Ziegler (the patriarch) was a painter too, Zora Ziegler-Rowland (Alice’s sister) was a baker and owner of ZoraCakes Bakery, Gwendolyn Ziegler (Alice’s other sister) was a tailor and seamstress with her own shop, and Langston Ziegler (Alice’s brother) was an architect. I gave Miracle some artistic ability, but her mother nurtured it and had her around her art shop all of the time and showed her all of the techniques she knew. Then during the summers, her mother would bring her to Middleburg to visit Larry and man, did the people love her there as much as the people in her hometown…”

“So Emmanuel was her cousin?”

“Technically, yes, Xander. Joy, Gabriel, and I planned it out this way. Anyway, this is where your father comes in. He encouraged Miracle to pursue a career in art. You see, she wanted to give up when she felt like she would never be as good as them; but your father promised that she would get better so she stuck with it. Unfortunately to Kenneth’s dismay, she slowly developed a crush on him. Every summer when she would go back, she would always be under him and Kenneth didn’t like that one bit. Miracle was a very curious girl though. She had never seen anyone that looked like your father, and that intrigued her. But then, everything changed on the evening of August 18th.”

“What happened? What happened?” I asked anxiously.

“Yeah, mama, what happened? You just paused.”

“I know. I like to take dramatic pauses for suspense. Anyway, her parents got into a huge argument because Kenneth didn’t want their daughter to go back to Middleburg. He was worried about her infatuation with your father because he was creeped out by him…”

“What? My dad can’t help the way he looks and he can’t help that he was exile.”

“Xander, it’s okay. Just let mama finish the story.”

“Her mother didn’t agree with him but she just decided to go out to calm down. She got caught in a storm, hit a tree, and died on impact. Miracle was only eight when this happened. Her whole world fell apart at eight years old. After that, Zora helped raise her since Kenneth was never really home and treated her as her second daughter since she already had a daughter, Nikki Giovanni. But Kenneth didn’t let her go back to Middleburg, he forbid it. But Zora could tell that it was taking a toll on poor Miracle. She missed all the people she came to know and love, so Zora made it up in her mind to try to help her one day. Fourteen years passed and Miracle was about to graduate college in another semester. But she needed a student teacher credit to graduate. She had no prospects, so Zora remembered that Larry was a high school principal and so she got in contact with him and they went half on plane tickets to get her back to Middleburg. Kenneth was upset, but she still got to go back.”

“Yeah! Take that, you asshole!” I cheered.

“She became your father’s student teacher…”

“Wait, wait. My dad’s a teacher now?”

“Yeah, an art teacher.”

“Oh, well mother did tell me he dabbled in the arts a little.”

“It’s funny though, because he was so awestruck when he saw Miracle again. I mean she was a young woman now and a beautiful, bubbly young woman at that. She resembled her mother, so everyone called her Alice. That’s why she goes by that now. She changed her name before she married your father. All of the students loved her. She just had a gift at helping others and those kids appreciated her dedication and helpfulness…”

“Wait. Is that Xiomara and…”

“Yes. I was getting to that. And yes, those three were in one of the class periods. Anyway, your father developed a huge crush on her and she started to rekindle the crush she had on him as they started spending more time together. Eventually, they fell deep in love but then Kenneth came back…”

“Not this asshole again! Can’t my dad just be happy?!”

“Xander! Finish, mama.”

“Right. He didn’t like how much time she was spending with him so they got into an argument, but your father won and she learned how to stand up for herself against her father. Kenneth eventually apologized, convinced that he wouldn’t be able to change her mind. Zora even invited both of them to Alice’s graduation, although Kenneth still had something to say…”

“Wow. Kenneth is a piece of work,” Ayvah concluded.

“Yeah, he is,” I groaned.

“But this story has a happy ending. You know that. Alice ended up taking a job as an art teacher at Middleburg Elementary and she of course married your father. She now, also, tries to help your father prove himself to his unworthy family.”

“She’s one of his henchmen now too?”

“Yep. But that picture besides my bookshelf could have told you that.”

“Oh. I totally missed that.”

“So she’s finally happy being with her two favorite guys. And Kenneth learned to tolerate his unique cousin and his new son-in-law. The end,” she said before she closed the book and put it back.

“Now, does that answer your question about Miracle?”

“Yeah. It does. Thank you. I had no idea that you sent both of them to look after my father.”

“Vladimir is a very unique individual. He takes after Gabriel, mostly. I had no part of his creation, after all. But ‘twas beauty that tamed the beast and I figured a woman that is like me would do your father well. I can’t touch upon every aspect of him though. But if you want to know more about your father’s past, here’s his storybook,” she said before she handed me the book. “I really hope you’re not doing your mother’s dirty work though. And just remember, Xander, Alice would never do anything to hurt your father. I promise you that.”

“Thanks, Michelle. I’ll see you later, Ayvah.”

“Bye, Xander.”


	4. Alice

I was finally six months pregnant now and Rip and I knew that our babies would come any day now, but it was mighty funny how Larry thought it would be the perfect time to host a baby shower for me. I was thankful though, don’t get me wrong. We weren’t rich and we had to provide for two instead of just one, so it was great that everyone wanted to pitch in and help. My aunt Zora, aunt Gwendolyn, and Gia all came down too to help Larry out with all of the decorations and they were dying to see me again too. Rip didn’t really want to attend this, but he decided to go after both Larry and I begged with the puppy dog eyes.

It was supposed to start at 2:00, so I woke Rip up at 1:00 (but I had been up since 11:00 anticipating what was going to happen). He was groggy and sleepy and didn’t want to get up, but he jumped up once I snatched Freddie from his grasp. He was mad, but I didn’t care. We left around 1:20, but he was driving fairly slowly, so we didn’t get there until closer to 1:35. And I had to practically drag him out the car. I didn’t know why he was acting so strangely, but I didn’t even want to ask. And when he finally decided to walk, he was just dragging his knuckles and feet like he was so pissed off. Actually, I guess it was because he was sleepy, but he never showed his ass like that around me.  
Aunt Zora and Gia practically met us at the door and hurried to hug me as well as they could, since I had a space pod for a belly now. But Zora, being a good judge of character and a great predicator of mood, took a good look at Rip and noticed that he looked mad.

“Well, hello, Mr. Grumpy Face,” she teased.

“Hello, Zora…Gia.”

“Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Gia whispered to her mother.

“He’s just sleepy,” I said after he walked away from us.

“He’s not too sleepy to talk to that guy,” Gia pointed out.

“Oh. That’s Phil.”

“Is he your new boss you were talking about?”

“Yeah. He is. He’s going to be the twins’ Uncle Phil.”

“Classic. So how’s the pregnancy been? I don’t even want to have kids and mother’s having problems with that.”

“It is not all it’s cracked up to be. I’m really doing this for Rip mostly.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Zora cooed. “It’ll be alright. At least your father will have grandchildren. I heard your little comment, Gia. Children are gifts from above, Alice. I’m sure you’ll love being a mother.”

“I’m sure I will be. I just hate being pregnant. I don’t want to endure this ever again.”

“There you two are!” Gwendolyn called. “We are not done decorating here. Oh, hey Alice. Look at you. Our little girl has grown up and is about to be a mother. You even have the pregnancy glow.”

“Hey, Aunt Gwen. Thanks. Rip’s been telling me that a lot too.”

“Is he okay? He looks upset. And who’s that guy he’s talking to?”

“He’s fine. He’s just groggy and sleepy. Oh and that’s the twins’ Uncle Phil. He’s our other boss.”

“Oh. I just though he was some random Chinese man Larry just happened to know. Well, Zora, I need help displaying your cake and Gia, you need to finish putting up the decorations. Everyone else is going to come in a few minutes.”

“Okay, Aunt Gwen,” Gia moaned.

“Yeah, I’ll just go with you know. I don’t want you to ruin my cake,” Zora proclaimed before following her to the kitchen.

“So do you like our decorations?”

“Yeah, I love this. Thanks for coming and helping.”

“Are you kidding? I’m going to have baby cousins. I’m going to spoil them rotten.”

“I think our whole family will.”

“Hey Alice!” Larry chirped after walking out of kitchen.

“Hey. Thanks for the party. This was so thoughtful.”

“Anything for my favorite baby cousin. I guess Rippen didn’t want to come, huh?”

“And this is like the fourth time someone asked about him,” Gia moaned.

“He’s just sleepy. Don’t mind him. I’m sure he’ll warm up eventually.”

“Oh, okay. I want just everyone to have fun.”

“I’m sure this party will be a lot of fun.”

“Of course. We got cousin Ricky to DJ for us,” Gia said.

“Just like at our wedding reception,” I moaned.

“Was that a bad idea?” Larry asked.

“No, it’s fine. Rippen just doesn’t really like him. He kept on asking him why he looks like that at our reception and it annoyed him.”

“Figures. Ricky has no social couth,” Gia remarked. “We never had any one like Rippen intermarry in our family, so it does raise some eyes, but we have the decency not to purposely offend him. Besides, he loves and cares about my best cousin friend and that’s all that matters to me.”

“Oh, I almost forgot, all of your former students brought some gifts for the babies to my office the last couple of days. They’re all stacked up in the living room.”

“Wow. That’s so sweet of them.”

“Let me guess, the red-headed kid told them that you’re pregnant and they all decided to get their favorite student teacher baby shower gifts?”

“Yeah, Penn told everyone.”

“Wow. Those kids really liked you. Actually, all of our family friends back home wanted to pitch in too. You know how many presents we had to haul in Aunt Gwen’s Sequoia? A lot. They make another pile in the living room.”

“They even signed this huge card for you.”

“Aww! I love those guys.”

“Wait, didn’t I meet all of them at your reception?”

“Not all of them. Just Penn, Boone, Sashi, Alex, Matilda, Jenna, Maddie, and Trevor.”

“That’s enough. That’s probably half of the class.”

“Larry! Where’s your cake cutter?!” Zora called. “Matthews and Fredericks can’t find it and neither can Gwen and I.”

“Where did I put that thing?” he asked himself before he walked away from us.

“So what’s on the menu?”

“Are you hungry now? I know you are eating for three now.”

“No. I’m fine. Just curious,”

“Oh. Apparently, it’s ribs, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, mixed steamed vegetables, and fish for you and Rippen since you two are pescatarian and all. Then mom made her famous buttercream cake. It has a really cute design on top. I helped her. But let me tell you, she didn’t let Larry’s butlers touch her cake at all. Matthews wanted to help, but she only let Aunt Gwen and I help her with the cake.”

“Wow. She really wants to make sure the cake stays perfect before the party starts.”

“Those two were both acting like dictators. They just want to make sure this party is perfect.”

“I understand.”

“And mother and Aunt Gwen are also deathly afraid of Tony.”

“Really? He’s a pygmy elephant and he’s the sweetest thing ever.”

“You know they’re not animal people. He had the old guy put him up in the safari park.”

“Old Man Middleburg?”

“I guess that’s what he’s called. Yeah, he decided to stay by the elephant to keep him company until the party starts.”

“Oh, I wondered if he was here. He’s always somewhere.”

“I guess he’s like ‘I’m old, not dead’.”

“I guess so. We would always play hide and seek in the safari park when I was younger. And sometimes he would carry me on his shoulders, although it would put out his back, but he never mind. He was like my grandfather.”

“Yeah, since our grandfather died when were young. You’re really lucky, Alice. You have two towns of people that adore you. You’re one of a kind.”

“Thanks, Gia. I’m sure this party will be perfect though.”

 

The party started exactly at 2:00 and Gia hurried to put the finishing touches on the decorations before the guests started to pour in. I was really impressed by how much work they put into a little baby shower though. The room was covered in pink bows and ribbons and Larry put up a banner over his gift shop sign he made with Gia that said, “It’s Twin Girls” and in smaller print it said, “Celebrating the Coming Birth of the Van Winkle Twins”. Ricky was in the middle of the room setting up his DJ equipment, but not before trying to talk to Rippen although Gia dragged him away. Aunt Zora and Aunt Gwen put the three tier cake on a separate table close to the two present tables: one empty, one way over capacity. Seriously though, I wondered how we were going to bring back all of these presents to our apartment.

Gia invited all of my female co-workers from Middleburg Elementary to come and all of them actually showed up. I wasn’t too surprised though. I mean we all got along and we would cut up in the teachers’ lounge. Most of them were younger black women like me, but some were white and Asian too. But my closer friend out of all of them was a 32 year old black Kindergarten teacher named Vivienne Debreu. She was from Carencro, Louisiana, and she was always trying to introduce me to Cajun cuisine which both Rip and I love now. But she always liked to be the center of attention wherever she goes…

“Alice!” she chirped before she ran over to me and who I was talking to.

“Oh, hey Vivienne!”

“Oh, I had no idea you were talking to someone. Hi, I’m Vivienne Debreu, Kindergarten teacher at Middleburg Elementary.”

“Nice to meet you. Roseann Monkenfluffer, Music Appreciation teacher at Middleburg Central High.”

“Oh, is this one of the teacher’s you met while you were a student teacher?”

“Yeah. It is.”

“Well, Alice, I wish you two the best of luck. I’m going to check out that buffet now.”

“Okay. Talk to you later, Rosie,” I chirped before she left. I mean I knew why she left though. I love Vivienne to death. She was sweet, but she could be rude a lot of the time. It was just awkward.

“She seems like a sweetheart.”

“Oh, she is. She was so nice to me on my first day. She’s really tight with Larry too. You should have seen her face when he told her I was his cousin.”

“These white people love you and your cousin, let me tell you. You must speak their language.”

“I guess.”

“And your cousin made it. He has white people working for him. That’s impressive especially where I’m from.”

“I guess. This area is very progressive though.”

“Must be. So, where’s your husband? I’ve only heard what you told me about him.”

“Oh, he’s over there talking to one of our family friends.”

“You mean that Chinese man over there?”

“Well, he’s Japanese-Russian. He’s going to be the twins Uncle Phil.”

 

“Oh, I see what you did there. Wow, Alice. You caught you one. He’s very handsome…I just pictured him differently.”

“I guess you weren’t expecting a goblin man, huh?”

“Not really. But he is a very handsome and charming looking goblin man. I guess you really can pick um.”

“I had a crush on him since I was little.”

“Wait, how much older is he then you?”

“He’s over a thousand years old.”

“Wow. I would have guessed twenty years, your senior. Hmmm, I want to talk to him.”

“Okay. I’m just going to warn you now, he’s a little sleepy and groggy so he won’t be as friendly as he usually is.”

“That’s fine.”

When we walked over, both he and Phil were wolfing down their food. I mean I know he didn’t eat breakfast, but he was acting like he was starving. He never once looked up from his plate until he saw our shadow.

“Oh, hey. How’s my darling Alice?”

“I’m fine, Rip. You’re finally in a better mood.”

“I was just hungry…I guess.”

“I can tell by the way you two men were wolfing down your food.”

“Whatever,” he moaned before he crossed his arms. “Whose your friend?”

“Oh, this is Vivienne Debreu. She works at the elementary school with me.”

“Is this the one that introduce you to Cajun food?”

“Yep.”

“Oh, well nice to meet you, Vivienne,” he excitedly greeted before he shook her hand. “I’m this lovely woman’s husband, Rippen Van Winkle. I really enjoy the food from your land.”

“It’s Louisiana and it’s a state. Are you from England? You have a very thick accent.”

“No. I’m not from this planet or dimension. But apparently, I sound like those humans…well, me and one of my old colleagues. We’re the only two of our kind though. I’ve been stranded on this crater for over a hundred years.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Wait, you say Cajun food?” Phil perked up.

“Yeah. I can cook it all…jambalaya, etoufee, gumbo…anything.”

“Wow. I always wanted to try that.”

“You did? All you eat is fish sticks,” Rippen remarked.

“I want to try.”

“Well, I could teach you. I love helping people learn to cook the Cajun way. I teach a class at the community college on the weekends. You can come if you want.”

“I come.”

“Alright. Here’s my card,” she started to explain after she handed him the card. “There’s all of my information and the hours of my class.”

“Okay, Vivienne.”

“And before I forget, I had a nanny for my two sons and she’s great. I know you two are very busy adults, so you may be in the need of her services. Her name’s Anastasia. She’s from St. Petersburg, Russia and she’s a darling. I think you two would like her.”

“Do you have a card or something?” Rip asked. “I want background checks before I trust anyone with my daughters.”

“Oh, yeah. Here’s her background pamphlet,” she said before she handed him the pamphlet.

“Anastasia Irina Helga Volkov,” Rip read from the front.

“That’s niece,” Phil suddenly said.

“You know her?” Vivienne excitedly asked.

“Yeah, you know her?” Rip asked.

“Yes, she Phyllis’ daughter. She stayed with father in Russia after bad divorce.”

“I didn’t know Phyllis was ever married. I thought she would scare any man she came around.

She almost kicked my ass a couple of times,” Rip remarked.

“He was tough like us. But we want to go to America, he did not. And Anastasia chose to stay.”

“How old was she?”

“About eleven or so. I not seen her since.”

“Interesting. We learn new things about you two every single day,” I murmured.

“We closed books, Alice.”

“I guess so, Phil.”

“Well, what a coincidence,” Vivienne perked up. “Let me know if you want to interview her. I have her number on speed dial.”

“We’ll definitely think about it. What do you think, Alice?”

“Yeah, we would love to meet her.”

“Well, well, well, isn’t it Lil’ Miss Alice…our guest of honor.”

“Old Man Middleburg!” I chirped before I went to ‘hug’ him.

“Look at you. You were just eight yesterday, and now you’re almost a mother. We’re so proud of you.”

“Aww. Thank you. You’ve always been like a grandfather to me.”

“Well, I’ve always considered you as a granddaughter. You Rodgers are like family to me.”

“Well, hello best customer.”

“Hello, Phil…Rip. Oh, and I’ve never seen you around, miss.”

“I’m Vivienne Debreu, one of Alice’s teacher friends.”

“Oh, nice to meet you, miss.”

“So how’s my little friend?” I asked.

“Oh, Tony? He’s fine. As adorable as always.”

“I think the twins will really like him too,” I said before rubbing my tummy.

“Attention! Attention!,” Aunt Zora called before banging a wine glass. “It’s present time! Alice, Rippen, come on down. We have special seats for you guys!”

“Oh, well that’s our que. Let’s go, Rip.”

I took his hand and we walked together to our seats before Aunt Gwen handed both of us a gift. Apparently, we were supposed to each open a present at a time and thank the gift given together. It was a nice gesture, but I started to feel uncomfortable. Then the uncomfortable feeling became a pain, like a contraction type of pain, and I got scared to the point that I started to fidget. So then I came to the realization that…

These twins were coming…and they were coming today…Rippen finally noticed that I looked uncomfortable and he asked,

“Alice, are you alright?” And I replied,

“No. No, I’m not, Rip. I think the twins are coming…like now!”


	5. Xander

When I got back home, mother and her friends were cackling in her study, so I quietly went to my room and started looking through my father’s storybook. I felt like I was actually meeting him for the first time, since page after page was illuminated with scenes from his life. I never really knew what my aunt Vlurgen looked like either, since my mother despised her, but I found out that I really wasn’t missing out on much. She just looked like the face of evil and I could believe that she had a plan a brewing like Joy warned. Michelle warned, in a code that Ayvah decoded between the lines, that she thrived on the misery and despair of all beings, especially my poor father. And I worried that now, since he was happy, she would come back into his life and wreak havoc. I was so into the book, though, that I didn’t even realize that my mother’s friends left and she was looking for me until she found me in my room.

“Oh, Xander! There you are! I was so worried.”

“Calm down, mother. I’m 125 years old now.”

“I know. But I can still worry about you. I’m your mother.”

“I’m aware.”

“Did you hear my friends?”

“I always hear you and your friends.”

“Didn’t they sound ridiculous? Your father would never replace me with some cheap, human knock off. I’m just waiting for the right time to see him again. But I have no idea where he is…”

“I know, mother,” I moaned. Seriously, it was the same song and dance with her and I refused to tell her that Miracle was in the picture now. I know my mother and I knew that she would try to get rid of anyone who came in between her and the imaginary relationship she had with my father.

“What are you reading? Was that your father I saw?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Xander Rippen Van Winkle! I know it was something, now what is this book?!” she asked before she snatched it out of my hands. “Is this your father’s life story? Oh, I could have told you what I knew. You could have just asked. Wait, that means…do you know where he is?!”

“Yes, mother. I do.”

“Where is he?! Where is my husband?”

“Some town called Middleburg on Earth.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you know! We must figure out how to get there! I have to doll myself up first though. I must look presentable to woo your father back to me. Oh, how I miss our…”

“Mother, please have mercy with your romance stories. Your son doesn’t want to know about your sexual escapades.”

“Fine. Be that way.”

“And mother, you need to slow down. Father might not be prepared for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s remarried. I’m sorry, mother.”

“What?! Please tell me you’re lying. Please tell me you’re lying.” But before I could answer, my phone started to ring and I saw that it was Ayvah on the other end.

“Who’s that?”

“It’s Ayvah. I have to take this, mother,” I insisted before I walked out of my room. I stopped in a hallway and answered before a hologram of her appeared from the screen of my phone.

“Hey Ayvah. What’s up?”

“Xander, you have to come to Elysium quick! Mom thinks that Alice is about to have her babies.”

“Wait, what? She’s in labor?”

“We think so. You have to come.”

“Okay. I’ll be right there.”

“Xander? Is everything all right?”

“It’s fine, mother.”

“So your father has moved on?”

“I’m afraid so, mother.”

“Oh. Well, I’ll be on my way. I need some time to think outside of the palace. I’ll see you later, my sweet angel,” she moaned before she kissed my cheek.

 

My mother was such a drama queen, I should have known not to tell her the truth. I should have known that she would stew over the fact that my father wasn’t available anymore for her to just jump back into his life. But like Joy said, it’s been over a hundred years. She should have come clean years ago whether or not she wanted my crazy aunt Vlurgen to believe we were dead. But I guess I could understand why she was so obsessed with my father now since I looked over his storybook. I didn’t even know that she became a prostitute against her will after she was kicked out of the Naaru Army…and my dad saved her from her imprisonment. I knew then that Vladimir Rippen Van Winkle was a pretty solid man that his family didn’t deserve. I mean he was different, but he didn’t deserve the treatment he got from his parents and sister. I knew that.

Now I was really happy for my father. His life was finally coming back into order after being lost and miserable for over a hundred years. He now had a wife that loved him and cared for him, maybe even more than my mother did and he was about to have two more children that were going to give him joy. And I was certain that he was going to be a wonderful father to his daughters. I knew that. My thoughts kept me company as I trekked back to Elysium, and when I got there, the front door to Michelle and Gabriel’s house was wide open. I walked in and Ayvah ran up to me and hugged me. After she let go, I just looked at her before I kissed her. She giggled and led me to the storage and surveillance room. Michelle and Gabriel were in their normal spots but they both turned around when they sensed I was near. I turned back to Ayvah, and she grabbed onto my arm for dear life before she said,

“We wanted you to see this. She had the twins earlier.”

“Yep, Xander. You’re a big half-brother now,” Gabriel chirped.

“This is Phoenix Mirajane and Gryffin Marijane Van Winkle,” Michelle announced before she pointed to the picture on the screen. It was Alice and my father holding each of them and they looked so happy, especially my dad. I started to cry when I saw that.

“Oh, Xander. How are you?” Ayvah asked.

“I’m fine. I can’t believe I’m a big brother now.”

“Mama and Daddy went to visit them.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, we did. We posed as the doctor and nurse. We helped her deliver the twins,” Gabriel explained.

“I just can’t believe we’re grandparents again. And I took plenty of pictures with them. You know, Emmanuel loves taking selfies. He’s a natural.”

“Figures,” Ayvah moaned.

“Did you talk to my father?”

“Yeah, we did. He was so happy. You should have seen him after they took them to the nursery.

He rushed to look at them again through the window. He’s a very happy father.”

“Good. That’s all I want. I just want my father to be happy.”

“I’m glad, Xander,” Michelle said. “Are you done with Rippen’s storybook? We have plenty of memories to add in it.”

“Yeah, I’m done,” I assured before I handed her the book.

“Do you know the significance of Phoenix’s name?” Ayvah asked.

“No.”

“That’s what your name would have been if you were a girl…and Alice decided to name her that.”

“What? Did my father tell her about my mother?”

“Yeah, he did. Alice knows all about your mother,” Michelle explained.

“I thought he would have forgotten about her.”

“Forget? About your mother? Didn’t you read his storybook? She was his first love. Your mother still means so much to your father,” Ayvah added.

“I can’t believe it. My mother’s distraught, but I can cheer her up with this knowledge.”

“Wait. Did you tell your mother about Alice?”

“Yes. I did. It slipped, Michelle. I promise. She shook it out of me.”

“Oh no, Xander. I can’t explain why that was a bad idea, but that was a really bad idea. She is not supposed to know about her.”

“How could I avoid her knowing? She would find out eventually. My father is all she ever thinks about. But I understand why. He saved her from forced prostitution. I didn’t even know she was a prostitute. She never told me that.”

“She was probably trying to repress emotional trauma, Xander. Prostitution in the Vitruvian galaxy is terrible. Her master was sadistic and vile. He would shave the heads of his slaves…he called them ‘models’, then he would brand them like cows and chip them with tracking devices, and force them into tight corsets and lingerie to prance around for rich men to throw themselves on them. And if they tried to escape, he would mutilate their genitals and torture them into submission. Lord Drakar was a horrible, horrible man,” Michelle explained.

“I understand now. I get why my mother is like this. That is horrible what they did to her. I always wondered what that tattoo was above her breast.”

“Well, now you know,” Ayvah added. “We’re having a viewing party of the twins’ birth tomorrow afternoon. We sent the invites to everyone. Are you going to come?”

“Of course. I’ll be here. I’m happy for my dad. And I’m going to support him fully. Nothing could ruin my father’s happy new life.”


	6. Her Infernal Majesty, Empress Jodi

I woke up feeling that something was going to happen…something I wasn’t expecting. Normally, I would shake off those feelings and face the consequences, but today I decided to take this gut feeling of wont and go with it. I tried to play it off, but internally I was freaking out. I was really freaking out. Shamael, my deliciously evil husband, would always see right through my façade and today was no different. He asked me what was wrong and what I was thinking off. I never told him, but I knew that he was probably trying to read my mind to figure it out.

He never told me if he knew, though, so I went on with my day until Madame Joanni startled me after she, Mika, and Rachel came back from New Luminia. They all looked excited, so I expected some great report on their trip there and what fun they had, but instead I got a different report.

“Mama! Michelle invited us to a viewing party!” Mika squealed.

“A viewing party? For what?”

“You know that couple that you and Shamael spy on all the time? You know the couple that we all agree are just like you two?” Joanni asked.

“You mean sweet Miss Alice and deliciously evil Rippen?”

“Yep, those two. She just had their twin daughters. Michelle and Gabriel visited them. They’re such happy parents.”

“Oh, okay, Madame Joanni. Well, when is it?”

“Tomorrow afternoon,” Mika squealed. “Can we go? Rachel loves going to Michelle’s house.”

“Yeah, I really do,” she chirped.

“Okay. Okay. We can go.”

“Yay!” Mika and Rachel chirped before they went to their room.

“Well, those two are excited. I’m on high alert for any suspicious activity though. I’ve been having a weird feeling in my stomach for the last few days.”

“Ditto. I woke up with a weird feeling in the back of my mind that something weird was going to happen today.”

“I guess we’ll just see. A lot of things have been going on in Middleburg, so I’m worried that some type of evil is going to appear there.”

“Isn’t that usually how things work?”

“Yes, yes that is, Jodi. Alejandra discovered that the ancient prophetic tapestry in the catacombs of the palace has just revealed the destiny of the some people in Middleburg. It didn’t show who those people were though. I guess it won’t be revealed until the events actually happen.”

“So the tapestry wants to be a mystery now. Interesting.”

“I don’t think so. Middleburg is just another small town on Earth that just happens to have supernatural things happening among them. It’s nothing new.”

“I guess, Madame Joanni. I guess. But we don’t want another recap of the Oregon Incident.”

“I understand your concern, Jodi. I totally understand.”

 

Around five o’clock, I woke up from my routine mid-day nap and caught a chill. I thought nothing of it, since the temperature in the Underworld fluctuates from warm to cold quickly. But I looked over to Madame Joanni who was rocking in her rocking chair knitting a scarf. She looked disturbed and her eyes glew a foggy, bright green. I went over by her, but she didn’t stir until the ground beneath us started to shake.

“It’s her! It’s her!” she chanted in her dream state. I was scared now. She only acted wacky like this when she sensed some type of danger coming. She had the powers of an oracle demon, so she knew about the dangers coming in the future times…

“Who is it? Who is ‘her’?”

“The ultimate evil…the Mistress of Chaos and Discord…”

“Who’s that?” But she didn’t answer me. Suddenly, the cold chill became a forceful cold wind, the curtains started to shake, the ground kept on shaking below us, and the lights started to flicker on and off. But as I kept on blinking, I could make out a shadow appearing in our domain. I blinked again and she was gone. I looked over at Joanni and she was back to normal and was still knitting her scarf.

But I had questions. And I needed them answered.

“Who was that?”

“You know Rippen?”

“Of course, Joanni.”

“Madame Joanni,” she corrected before giving me a stern look. “That’s his little sister, Vlurgen. She’s the other ultimate evil.”

“I thought Shamael was the only ultimate evil.”

“Nope. She is too.”

“What is she doing here?”

“Beats me. I have no idea why she’s here. But she did go to his study.”

“Thank you, Madame Joanni. I’m going to get some answers.” I went over to his study quickly and noticed that the door was slightly ajar, so I peeked in and saw this ‘other ultimate evil’. She definitely resembled Rippen. She had his same eye color, the unibrow, the same grade of hair, and the same green wrinkly skin. She wore a thick silk Maleficent style dress with a magnificent cape over her shoulders and a crown with six points adorned her head. But the weirdest thing was the fact that she wore her hair in pigtails on top of her head…but now that I think of it, it might be to resemble devil horns.

She looked like she was going to hump my husband by the way she leaned over his desk though. He looked uncomfortable, so I knew right then and there that my man was faithful. I didn’t really have that much of a doubt though. We had been married for over thirty years now. I think I almost cringed watching her flash her boobs at him too. But it also made me suspicious. Why was she acting like this? Did he have a relationship with her at one time? And if he did, why did I not know about this?

“Do you miss these?” she cooed in her thick German accent.

“Listen, Vlurgen…sweetie, I do miss our late night rendezvouses, but I’m a married man now.

And I have a new family. I love my wife too much to cheat.”

“Oh, I see. You forgot all about me. We could have ruled over the entire multiverse together, Shamael. With our combined power, we would have been unstoppable.”

“And how has that come along for you? You’ve been plotting to do that for centuries.”

“I’m almost done conquering the entire Vitruvian galaxy. I have a few variables I have to work around though.”

“Define a few.”

“Well, why don’t we start with Myrtah…”

“You don’t mean…”

“Yes, the rogue rebel that created anarchy to overthrow my parents. Her and her brother fled before I could punish her. She’s in the same place my brother is now.”

“Middleburg?”

“Precisely. She goes by Phyllis now. What a dumb name! Now she has some new, young miscreants that help keep the multiverse all peachy and happy...”

“So that’s four variables.”

“That’s not all, Shamael! One of those miscreants is our precious daughter!”

“Xiomara Viore?! No, she could not be siding with good now, could she?”

“She is, Shamael! She is. She’s dating the leader of their miscreant team. See,” she scoffed before she showed him a picture.

“Why does she look Asian now? And she’s dating the red head? Wow, she could do so much better.”

“That’s because she is Asian now. She doesn’t even know her real name. She’s a goody-two shoes now…although she still has my delightful personality.”

“What does she go by now?”

“Sashi. That’s such a dumb name. Xiomara Viore is just a much more powerful, threatening name. She was our evil little princess. I needed an heir and she was going to be my delightfully evil heir. And these horrible people took her from us,” she insisted before she showed him another picture.

“But these humans didn’t take her from you. Joy, Michelle, and Gabriel did.”

“I know. Those worthless guardians! They tried to brainwash my poor baby but they couldn’t remove my personality out of her. She’s a Van Winkle. You can’t erase that.”

“I guess not. So what about Mortice? I mean I know he ran off with Myrtah, but what is he up to?”

“Oh, he was always loyal to my parents. He is trying to help my cause, unfortunately my dunce of a brother can’t do anything right so he’s just practically handing it to Myrtah!”

“How are they able to do this anyway? They’re on Earth.”

“That’s another variable, my dear. They have the technology to create portals into different worlds throughout the multiverse. My goons and I have found a way to interrupt their signal and communication with the other worlds. We just have to act accordingly. Now is not the time.”

“Wait, how are you able to do that?”

“I got a little help from a blonde birdy. She has no idea.”

“I see. That’s diabolical. But why have you come to see me?”

“Oh, Shamael, I need your help. I can’t make my way to Earth, but you can help me. I want to get our daughter back. You can understand that, right? She needs to be home.”

“Oh. I thought this had to do with your brother.”

“He’s another variable.”

“How come?”

“He’s not miserable anymore! I’m the Mistress of Chaos and Discord. I thrive on people’s misery especially his. If he’s not miserable, then I’m not happy! Do you see my beautiful face? Ever since he got happy, my youthful glow and aura has withered away. My eternal youth comes from his misery!”

“I understand, dear.”

“My main objectives are to control all of the multiverse and get my daughter back, but causing misery and pain in my stupid brother’s life again will be the topping on the cake. But it all starts with you. If you can help me get to Earth, I’ll be able to knock down the queen and her pawns. Myrtah and her two stupid human accomplices will be forgotten, our daughter will forget all about them and her past on Earth, and best of all I’ll be unstoppable!” she declared before she started to cackle. Then she took the first picture and ripped it on both sides.

“I like the way you think, my dark mistress. But what will we do with Myrtah and her human accomplices?”

“Simple, Shamael, those two boys will make great slaves and I guess we could just boil Myrtah alive. I would love to see her suffer.”

“Wouldn’t that make your brother miserable too?”

“What do you mean?”

“Those three are his enemies. If you destroy them before he does, he’ll go insane. He’ll be embarrassed that his little sister defeated his greatest enemies in record time.”

“That’s right. I totally forgot. Taking down the queen and her pawns will cause all of my other plans to fall right into place…like a domino effect. I love the way you think, Shamael. We make a great team.”

“Just like old times. I’ll help you. I haven’t been a part of something so deliciously evil in so long.”

“Oh, my poor Shamael, you’ve been missing out. Come visit me at the palace. We’ll enact our brilliant evil plot together. Now, if you would excuse me, I need to plan a little visit and strike fear into the hearts of my goons. Ta ta, my darling Shamael,” she said before she disappeared.

“Goodbye, my dark mistress Vlurgen.”

 

I ran back to the living room before Shamael could find me peeking. Madame Joanni had just finished her scarf and looked up at me with a weird look on her face before she asked,

“Did you get answers?”

“Yes, Jo…I’m mean Madame Joanni. Don’t say that out loud though. I don’t think Shamael saw me spying.”

“Really, Jodi? He’s an all-powerful demon king. I’m sure he saw you peeking, but he won’t do anything to you. I’ll assure you of that.”

“I didn’t know he had a fling with Rippen’s little sister. And that fling resulted in a daughter. Why did he never tell me about this?”

“Wow, that fairy tale material there,” Joanni remarked. “So you have a stepdaughter he never told you about?”

“Yeah, her name was Xiomara Viore.”

“I remember that name. Michelle and Gabriel kept her after Joy took her from Vlurgen.”

“I didn’t know about that. They kidnapped her daughter.”

“They wanted what was best for her.”

“Oh, really? Vlurgen wants her daughter back and she’s going to hurt innocent people to get her back.”

“Figures. She is the other ultimate evil. But Michelle wasn’t really willing to be a part of that. Joy and Gabriel put her in the situation. Michelle would never want to separate families, even of evil people. I know my sister and she isn’t like that.”

“I believe you, Madame Joanni. I’m just afraid for these people.”

“I know you are, Jodi. But don’t worry. Bad things will come, but good will always prevail and always overcome. You believe that, don’t you?”

“I’m not so sure anymore, Joanni. Middleburg could be the next big collateral damage of Earth. But I feel for Vlurgen too. She’s just a scorned mother. I had six kids myself and if someone took them away from me, I would be just as upset.”

“I get that. I would be the same way with my three. It wasn’t the best move, but things happen for a reason. Both you and me as well as Joy, Gabriel, and Michelle know that.”

“How much did you see, Jodi?” Shamael asked as soon as he walked into the living room.

“What do you mean?”

“Jodi, I know you were spying. How much did you see?”

“Enough. You’re not thinking about helping her, are you? I know you’re the other ultimate evil, but innocent people are going to get hurt…innocent people that did nothing to you. Don’t even try to forget what Sir William did. She might try to do the same thing.”

“I don’t know, Jodi,” he moaned before he handed me a picture.

“So I guess this is Xiomara. The only stepdaughters I knew about was Blanche, Stella, Bindi, and Noiri. Why did you never tell me about her? Why did you never tell me about your other family?” 

“Man, Shamael, you’re worse than King Henry VIII. All you have is daughters…except for Dominic and the rogue Lance.”

“I guess so, Madame Joanni. I never thought I would have to tell you about my other family. That’s why it never came up. I hadn’t seen that woman in centuries. She’s been so caught up in her plans, I just decided to move on. She changed after Xiomara was taken from her. I tried to patch up the relationship, but it just didn’t work out.”

“You see, Madame Joanni? She’s a scorned mother…and she’s going to hurt anyone that gets in her way including Xiomara. Shamael, you can’t help her! This will not end well.”

“She’s my daughter, Jodi! I miss her too. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices…”

“No, you can’t be serious! She’s going to hurt Xiomara too. Didn’t you hear? She’s going to brainwash her.”

“Jodi, I’ve made my decision.”

“Fine, you know what, Shamael, I get it. You’re a scorned father. You have a great relationship with all of your children, even Blanche and Stella in Elysium and Xiomara is the only one that you can’t see all of the time. I get that. But when…and I mean WHEN this blows up in your face, we’re going to have to help fix this. But you’ve made your decision and I can’t change your mind.”

“But while we’re here, why don’t you enlighten us on this other family?” Joanni suggested.

“Fine. Come with me. I have a book in my study.”

 

I was really anxious to know about this other family he never told me about. We had been married for years, yet he never even bothered to mention to me that I had another stepdaughter in fucking kingdom come. I knew that he was centuries older than me, I get that, and I knew that he had plenty of affairs before me; but he could have mentioned this to me. I wouldn’t have clawed his eyes out about it either. It happened in the past and I couldn’t change that. But now, his past has come back to haunt him and the truth is just coming to light.

Once we entered the study, we sat down in the available chairs while he looked through his bookcase to find the book. Once he found it, he sat down in his chair and placed the book down. The front cover was tattered and warped brown vinyl but it also had a picture of him with Vlurgen and baby Xiomara in her arms. Once he opened it, a hologram appeared above it and started to play out a scene in front of us.

“Jodi, I should have come clean a long time ago, but I’m still technically married to Vlurgen. Our marriage was never annulled.”

“What?! You didn’t say you were married to her.”

“I know. Well, I still kinda am. Anyway, here’s where the story begins. The Kingdom of Caluga in the Vitruvian galaxy was a very peaceful and harmonious empire until a rogue rebel and his band of miscreants pillaged the land and took over. This rogue rebel was Nikita Rippen Van Winkle, or as he was known by the civilians, Nikita the Feared. After he took over, he had his entire band of misfits executed and began to rule the kingdom with an iron fist. He became the dictator that everyone feared. Now someone as powerful and cutthroat would quickly attract a demon. And he did. My aunt Viore was enamored by him and my father, being a decent enough big brother, decided to take her to meet him.

Long story short, they ended up getting married and she became queen of her own kingdom, to the relief of my father since she wanted to rule over the Underworld…

“Wait, so Lu had a sister?” I asked. “I didn’t know that.”

“Yep. He has a little sister. Now where was I, oh right. So, of course, Vladimir Rippen and Vlurgen Viore were born from this union. And being a paternal society, it was custom that Rippen would be the next ruler. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the most evil person. Actually, to the shock of everyone, he was the nicest person in the court despite being the son of an evil dictator and his demon wife. He was polite, had impeccable manners, and was always trying to help someone. So, of course, auntie and uncle favored Vlurgen more because she was just as evil as they were…”

“So he has magical abilities?” Joanni asked.

“He did. He can still shapeshift though. My father and Nikita were best friends so he would always take my brothers and me to Caluga to visit them. I was the black sheep of my family too, as you know, so I instantly flocked to Rippen. From the time we were kids, we were best friends and we would wander the streets of Caluga and help people out and such. All of the townspeople loved us, but our parents were both ashamed of us. Some days, we would both be locked away in our rooms, while our siblings would be able to do whatever they wanted. It was a way to make us evil, but it never worked. As the years went by, nothing really changed. I started visiting him more often and he was still helping  
people. He was also in training to be the next ruler. But there was something that changed soon enough.

I was always deeply terrified of Vlurgen, but once we started to grow up, she kinda grew on me. And I had no idea that she liked me. But my father knew. He told me that she liked me and set us up on a couple of dates. And that’s when things changed. I fell head over heels for her and eventually, just like my father wished, I became a terrible person…for her. I forgot all about my friendship, and just focused solely on her. He never said that it hurt him, but I knew it did. I became the ultimate evil, because of her. I let her change me…we married soon after and then she had Xiomara. We were a happy family, but she wanted more than just that. She wasn’t content until she got the throne. We were living in the Underworld since Rippen was Emperor of Caluga at the time. She told me that she had a plan to overthrow her brother and take back what should have been hers and I believed that she was going to do what she said, but I never stopped her or warned him. I just sat back while all of this happened…”

“Oh, Shamael,” I said in a comforting tone before I took his hand. But he still let his tears fall.

“It’s okay, Jodi. This is my fault. I didn’t know that his new wife was pregnant when Vlurgen attacked. Later that day, while I was putting Xiomara to sleep, she told me that it was done and I learned a little bit after that Mirajane and their unborn child was dead. I was devastated, but I never wanted to show it. I didn’t want to show weakness to her. So we moved into the palace and once we moved in, I found an old picture of Rippen and me from when we were kids and I started to cry. She told me that she exiled him, but I had no idea where. I was ashamed of myself. After she took over, she started conquering more kingdoms in some convoluted plot to control everything; while I was always watching  
Xiomara in the palace. But then we woke up one morning, and our daughter was gone. Something within her snapped, and she became a living nightmare. I eventually left her without a trace and I took out all of my anger and frustration out on innocent people, becoming the ultimate evil my father always wanted me to be…”

“Well, at least you know that Xander and Montague are very much alive. Wow, she sounds lovely though.”

“Now do you see, Jodi? I’m not trying to help Vlurgen to help her. I just want my daughter back. Xiomara was my firstborn and I loved her so much.”

“But you said she was unstable. We can find another way for you to see her…a better way.”

“I can’t show my face in Middleburg. I’m sure Rippen hates me now. I betrayed him because I was infatuated with his horrible sister.”

“Can’t you just disguise yourself?” Joanni asked.

“We’re both shapeshifters. He’ll know it’s me. Trust me.”

“Fine. Your mind is made up…but he’ll be in the crossfire and you’ll just betray him once again. I know we have to make sacrifices sometimes, but this is really going to blow up in your face.”


	7. His Infernal Majesty, Emperor Shamael

Jodi was mad at me all night, so she stayed on her side of our king-sized bed and didn’t speak or even look at me. She just couldn’t believe what I was planning on doing. I wasn’t doing this for Vlurgen, I was doing this for Xiomara. She had all of her children in reaching distance, I didn’t. She didn’t understand my pain. In a way though, I could understand her concern. She didn’t want my former best friend cut up in the crossfire and I didn’t want to hurt him again either, but a father will do crazy things for their children.

The next morning, she woke up in a rush and I woke up after her to test the water but she was still upset and didn’t even bother to say anything to me. Madame Joanni told me that they were going to a party in Elysium hosted by Michelle and Shamael and they were headed over to New Luminia first. I waved goodbye and went back to my study. I found our wedding album on my shelf and I looked through it a little before I started to cry. I hated lying to Jodi, but I had to. I didn’t want her to know I still had feelings for her, but I did. I was still in love with this crazy woman. I honestly don’t know what type of spell she had me on, but I was hooked. I mean I did change for her, but I wanted to. I wanted  
our relationship to last. I wanted us to be a happy family, but as soon as the guardians took Xiomara away, that went down the toilet. Maybe for good reasons…maybe…

But now that I think about it, I wanted to believe that she came back to rekindle our relationship. Maybe this wasn’t just a revenge plot, maybe she wanted me back too. And Jodi was gone, so I could voyage back to my old stomping ground without suspicion. I hurried to throw on an old outfit I kept in my closet and made my way to Caluga. It had been over a hundred years since I stepped foot in this blasted kingdom, but it did bring back memories. It looked darker and cloudier than I remembered, but the palace still had the same amount of green fog around its exterior. And as I walked through the open forest, random civilians started to appear in the shadows and I could hear them whisper,

“It’s the emperor! Our emperor has returned.”

I couldn’t see their faces though, masked behind cloaks and it was the same story for every other townsperson I passed by. It was an eerie sight and nothing looked the way it did when I was still here. Obviously, Vlurgen changed this whole kingdom around after I left her. But there were remnants of the old Caluga I knew, it was just that the fog cover it up quite nicely. Even the palace looked like it was rotting away. Vines and weeds ate at the exterior walls and grew upwards, bricks and stones were missing, and the entrance gate squeaked as it opened up for me. It was a dreadful sight to see such a magnificent castle in such disrepair and ruin, but I guess Vlurgen’s misery made her ignorant that her  
precious kingdom was falling apart.

Her guards bowed as soon as they saw me, but I ignored them and kept on walking to the entrance before two of her goons, who were talking in the courtyard, saw me and opened the doors for me. She was nowhere to be seen, so I just walked around the main hallway. It was plastered with old tapestries and old pictures of us…as a family. It was remarkable that a woman like her would be sentimental, but she was. And in her defense, I missed our old life too.

“Shamael?”

“Vlurgen,” I moaned before I turned around to find her. And found her I did. She looked like she did the night I fell in love with her. And for some reason, there were no wrinkles on her face…her youthful aura made my heart skip a beat. She also wore the same dress she wore that night and had her hair in the same messy pigtails. Then there was silence between us, before I walked closer to her and took her hands. Looking into her eyes, I felt the spark that I thought was long gone between us.

The atmosphere felt colder and time seemed to slow down as she leaned in for a kiss. At first, I was flustered until I just said the hell with it, wrapped her in my arms and kissed her. A slight peck became a French kiss…and she held onto my neck for dear life, but she let go to catch her breath before I pushed her to the nearby wall and started kissing her again. My lips moved to her neck and my hands gripped at her left thigh. She moaned into my mouth before I felt her forked tongue again, her hands found their way around my neck again…

Next thing I knew, she led me to our old bedroom and started to undress in front of me before letting her hair down. I can’t tell you how flustered I was when I saw her natural body again. She had the perfect hourglass shape and I wanted to touch her soft skin…but then I blinked and she was in my lap, giving me a little dance before wrapping her arms around my neck to French kiss me. I was putty in her hands and I started feeling all over her body before settling with working my fingers through her silky raven and green hair.

Snap, snap. She found a way to take off my clothes without me noticing. I was pushed unto the bed suddenly, before I felt her forked tongue on my torso. Her form towered over me as she placed more hickeys and kisses all over my body. I blinked, yet again, and realized that I was inside her. My legs were wrapped around hers and as I thrusted in and out of her, she moaned in my mouth and she kept on French kissing me. I couldn’t breathe, but I didn’t really care. Her kiss was toxic, but I loved her poison. I was making love to her and cheating on my new wife in the process, but I didn’t seem to care. I had fallen back in love with a siren, and I wasn’t going to snap out of it.

After we had three glorious rounds of sex, I never once let her go. She was wrapped tight in my arms as I caressed her. I couldn’t help but neck kiss her too before she guided two of my fingers to her fold and got me to finger her. But that wasn’t enough for her. She rolled around and wrapped her legs around my neck before I ate her out twice as well. I was pretty convinced that Vlurgen was a sex addict, but I didn’t mind. I didn’t mind making love to the wife I hadn’t seen or talked to in years.

The two times I ate her out tired her out, so I just held her and caressed her while she took a nap in my arms. And let me tell you, she’s such a darling when she’s asleep. I rubbed her arm while she was sleeping too to comfort her. But then guilt finally started to eat at me. I promised that I would be faithful to Jodi, yet I lost all self-control once I was alone with Vlurgen again.

I just tucked her under her silk sheets while she still slumbered, put my clothes back on, and just looked out of one of her grand windows to think everything over. I just came over to help her get our daughter back, but I ended up having sex with her three times. What was wrong with me? What type of spell did she have me on? Or was I just horny since Jodi didn’t give me any last night? And what was with the eerie sight of scared townspeople I came across? They looked somewhat content to see that I returned, but they still looked scared. What was going on in Caluga? What did Vlurgen do to this kingdom?

“Shamael?” she cooed. “Why aren’t you cuddling with me?”

“I’m sorry, Vlurgen. I shouldn’t have strung you along. This isn’t right. I’m happily married again and I shouldn’t have slept with you.”

“I understand. I just missed our relationship. I don’t mean for you to hurt Jodi…but she shouldn’t be mad at you for helping me. She doesn’t understand the pain of losing a child. Xiomara was your first born, and you love her. You’re a great father and I was a wonderful mother. I won’t hurt our precious little girl. I promise, Shamael,” she insisted.

“I know you won’t hurt her. Jodi’s just cautious is all.”

“I get it. She was born a human. They’re frail creatures. Did you miss your kingdom?”

“My kingdom? My kingdom is the Underworld.”

“This is your kingdom too. You are still the Emperor of Caluga.”

“Obviously. Your people were chanting that their emperor returned when I trekked here. Why do they look like hollow shells anyway, Vlurgen? What happened to this kingdom? The whole place just looks like a hollow shell of its former self.”

“That’s what happens when my brother isn’t miserable.”

“What?”

“Just like my youthful aura depends on his misery, so does the splendor of Caluga. He’s been miserable so long that the people have been blinded of the corruption I brought upon them. Caluga just seemed like a decent place to live. It’s a façade I worked on very hard to keep. But now that he’s happy, Caluga is embracing its inner beauty and the people started to notice. I didn’t want a rebellion on my hands, so I took away their souls until I can make my brother’s life a living nightmare. All of their souls are locked away in my amulet and they’ll be able to get them back once he’s miserable again and the fake splendor of Caluga is restored.”

“So that’s why! They’re soulless zombies.”

“Pretty much. The only thinking people are my goons and loyal subjects right now.”

“I didn’t know your brother’s misery meant so much.”

“It does. But we must enact our evil plan now. I’ll fetch my garments and lead you to my lair.”

 

After she got dressed again, she led me out of our room into another dim lit hallway. As I followed her, a couple of her goons appeared in the shadows and started to follow us. Our journey led us to a dead end in that same hallway before her amulet started to glow red and suddenly, a door appeared and opened for us. There was no guiding light, so the glow from the amulet led the path down the cobblestone stairs into the catacombs of the palace. Rats and snakes scurried by our feet, but Vlurgen and her goons seemed not to notice. The path became more and more narrow like we were in a cave until it widen again and opened up into a huge ‘room’ that I assumed was her lair. I had never been down here, so I was enamored by what was in front of me. Her lair almost looked like a mix between a surveillance room, a torture room, and a game room. I guess the foosball table, the dartboards with all of the humans Xiomara knew faces on them, and the series of arcade games were for the goons whereas the millions of screens and monitors as well as the  
torture devices were hers. But I noticed that there were a couple of worn out test dummies sitting by the torture devices. They looked like Xiomara’s new boyfriend, Myrtah in her human disguise, the chubby kid Xiomara was friends with, and Rippen. But then I noticed a young, lanky Calugian man with glasses coming from a door that I had just noticed. He pushed his glasses back before running to meet us.

“Your majesty,” he said in submission before he kneeled down. “It is ready.”

“Good, Alexei. I was starting to get worried. I would have had to slit your throat if my device didn’t work. Now bow to your emperor as well. He has come back.”

“Yes, your majesty. My apologies,” he muttered before he kneeled down before me. “Welcome back to Caluga, your highness. I give you the upmost respect.”

“Stand down, Alexei. Thank you though.”

“Of course, your highness.”

“Shamael will do.”

“Yes, stop your groveling, Alexei. You’re embarrassing yourself and annoying me.”

“Now what about this device?” I asked.

“This will knock out both Myrtah and Mortice’s communication and signal to the worlds within the multiverse. It’s a technology we have been crafting for quite some time. Alexei and the blonde birdy have helped make this possible. If this goes well, I will make him one of my loyal goons…if this goes wrong, I’ll decapitate him.”

“I assure you, dark empress, this will work. Birdy gave us the QPC. It will work. I promise. But I still don’t know how we’ll break the barrier between Caluga and Earth though.”

“There’s a barrier? Is that why you can’t go to Earth?”

“The guardians set it up to keep me from Xiomara. But Alexei, your emperor has returned to help me break the barrier. With our combined powers, that barrier will be broken in seconds.”

“Well, why don’t we give it a try?” he eagerly asked.

“I enjoy your enthusiasm, Alexei. Maybe you will make a good henchman. Come with me, Shamael, let me show you our wicked device,” she insisted before Alexei led us to the room behind the mysterious door. The room was dim lit so I didn’t even see the collection of cords and wires that I managed to trip over before Alexei helped me up. On the west side of the room, there was a large monitor with a control panel and across from it was a huge contraption that was covered up by a large grey blanket and adjacent to it was a small glowing panel sticking out of the wall.

“What is all of this?”

“A pretty accurate replica of Myrtah and Mortice’s technology. It’s a portal disruptor, but Alexei has enhanced its capabilities though…”

“It had a couple of bugs, but I managed to work around it. We are up and running,” he assured while typing away at his screen. “If you two can break the barrier, you’ll be able to get to Earth.”

“Great,” I moaned.

“What’s wrong, Shamael? Are you listening to what Jodi said again? I’m doing this for us and our daughter. She needs to be home. Those guardians were wrong. I want our daughter back.”

“You’re right. I’m in. Besides, Caluga needs some help too…even if it means betraying my best friend again…”

“Don’t worry, Shamael. You won’t regret your decision,” she assured before she kissed me. “I promise.”

“I believe you.”


	8. Alice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I freaking love this chapter! Rippen is such a good daddy because he loves and cares for his daughters so dearly. Plus Alice and Rippen are the cutest couple. 
> 
> This is also the chapter that Penn, Boone, and Sashi come in.

I went through a very long and painful labor, but just like Aunt Zora promised, the pain seemed to fade away after I saw my daughters’ smiling faces. It was so surreal to me that I was a mother now too. I kept on looking at them in shock and I wondered what I was going to do with them and how I was going to take care of them. I had no idea. But Aunt Zora also promised that I would figure it out. And at least I knew that Rip was going to be a great father and a big help too.

You should have seen his face after they were born. He stayed by my side during my entire labor and although I squeezed his hand until he lost feeling, he totally ignored his pain too after seeing them. They both had Rip’s green skin and ears, but they were fraternal. The one we named Phoenix looked more like me and was the skinny twin, whereas the one we named Gryffin looked like Rip’s twin since she had the same eye color, nose, and jawline and was chubby. But they were both beautiful to us.

Although all of our family and friends were excited and came to visit us in the hospital, the one most excited about the twins’ birth was my father. He was such a happy and proud grandfather, which surprised me because he was so against me procreating with ‘a thing like Rip’ for the longest. And the other shocking thing was that he was having a normal conversation with Rip and they were even laughing together. I couldn’t believe that it took me giving birth for those two to get along, but I was content. Maybe all three of us would have a better relationship thanks to Phoenix and Gryffin.

After three days, I was admitted from the hospital and I was so glad to go back home. The hospital food wasn’t very good and Rip promised me that he would help me get back on my old diet by cooking for me again. But not only that…I also couldn’t wait to bring my babies home to their nursery that their father, cousin Larry, and Uncle Phil worked so hard on. When we left the hospital, I sat in the middle back seat to watch both of our babies in their carriers while Rip drove back to our apartment. He told me that all of the gifts from my baby shower were still at Larry’s but enough of the supplies we needed were in the nursery.

As soon as we got back home, we brought them to their nursery. And let me tell you, those three guys did an amazing job. There were two black panel cribs in the center of the room and two sets of cubbies, drawers, and cabinets on the walls painted green. Along with that were two black rocking chairs decorated in green, purple, red, and yellow pillows and two lamps nearby that if you turned them on, created a little light show and played some soothing music. Above the cubbies, on the same walls, Larry created some letters painted green with purple dots that spelled out both of their names on either side. Phoenix’s name was on the left side and Gryffin’s was on the right. And I was also impressed by  
how nice the mural Rip and I painted around the room looked. When we were painting it, he told me that it was based on the landscape of this world that was a plush city they were zapped to once (they were giant babies, and they were so cute…).

Rip took Gryffin out of her carrier and I took Phoenix out of her carrier once we made sure the room was okay. Phoenix was asleep, but Gryffin was wide awake and kept on reaching out for Rip’s goatee to grab. He would always giggle and tell her no, before she would grab one of his fingers and smile. But it was so cute seeing how close he was to her. I could tell she was his favorite.

“This is your new home, Gryffin,” he told her. “And one day, you and your sister will be just like your mommy and me. You’re our evil little princesses.”

“Aww,” I moaned.

“Alice, really?”

“I just like messing with you. Phoenix is asleep, so that means Gryffin needs to take a nap too.”

“But she’s not tired. She wants to be by daddy.”

“Fine. But if she starts crying, you’re going to have to handle it.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll let her take her nap. Besides, I need to cook a good meal for you. It’s been a while since you ate a descent cooked meal.”

“That’s what I thought. I love you, Rippy.”

“I love you too,” he cooed before he handed me Gryffin and kissed me.

I brought her to the nearby rocking chair, before I started to feed her. Rip never told me this either, but Vitruvian babies are born with sharp nails like he has so whenever I was breastfeeding either one of them, they would claw at my skin. And Gryffin was so jumpy. She would always bob her head, to the point where she had to claw me to steady herself, so I would help her by holding her head up with my hand. And sometimes while she was feeding, she would fall asleep which she did again. So I just put her in her crib and adjusted my bra and shirt before going back by Rip to see what he was trying to cook.

“So how’s my little girl?”

“Yes, your little girl. She fell asleep while I was feeding her again and I have another claw mark above my breast where she scratched me.”

“Wow, she’s a chip off the old block. She’ll be a great part-time villain one day.”

“I guess. Now I know you probably don’t remember, because you’re centuries older than me and haven’t talked to your folks in forever, but is Gryffin acting like you did when you were a baby because Phoenix is just like me. She’s quiet and happy, barely cries, and sleeps a lot. Whereas Gryffin wakes up abruptly, cries more often than Phoenix, and is jumpy and loud.”

“She’s a happy baby too. I guess she is like her old man. And considering the fact that my parents dressed me up like a girl and never really hugged me or showed me any type of affection, I was a troubled baby. But Gryffin won’t be like that. She is an attention seeker, but I’ll make sure to spoil her rotten and show her all of the love and affection my parents did not.”

“I see. I have another question though.”

“Lay it on me, Alice.”

“Why do you have such sharp nails?”

“Vitruvians just naturally have sharp nails. But since I’m half demon, they are a bit more sharp.”

“This is what I get for marrying a goblin/demon hybrid.”

“Well, on the plus side, the girls do have a little human in them thanks to their mother.”

“The only thing that’s human about them is that Phoenix has my grade of hair and Gryffin has her cousin Gia’s grade of hair. That’s it. Other than that, those two are all you.”

“Well, Phoenix looks like you too.”

“I know. What are you cooking?”

“Some Mahi Mahi, steamed vegetables, and brown rice.”

“Mmmm. That sounds and smells delicious. What about dessert?”

“Well, it’s not going to be me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t hear the doctor? You can’t have sex for 4-6 weeks. Your body needs to heal. You are on maternity leave right now from the elementary school.”

“I know that. But I was talking about an edible dessert? You know…something you make.”

“Oh, I’m just making some key lime pie, your favorite.”

“You really know how to spoil a woman, Rip.”

“I know. And you can’t go on any missions either during this time."

“What? I’m fine.”

“I want to make sure, Alice. You can understand my concern, right?”

“Fine. I guess I’ll just watch the twins and keep Phil company then.”

“You’ve done it this long. I thought you would be used to it.”

“You would think, Rip. You would think.”

 

Four to six weeks was a long time to go without sex or aiding my two boys on missions. I mean I yearned to go on another mission again, but I could understand Rip’s concern. The first few days that they did go for missions, I just stayed home with the girls before I figured out a way to keep them out of the sun and keep them out of the toxic atmosphere we lived in. Aunt Zora bought a stroller cover that was transparent so I could see them and they would be shielded from the toxic air. So the next week, I started bringing them to see their uncle. It was funny though, because the first day I brought them, I bumped into the trio. And they were all pining over them.

“Hey, Miss Alice!” Penn greeted.

“Oh, hey guys.”

“Hey, are those the twins?” Boone asked.

“Yeah. I’m bringing them to see their Uncle Phil.”

“Hey, can we see them?”

“Sure. I just hope I’m not holding you up.”

“It’s fine,” Penn assured before they all came by us.

“Wow, they both look like Rippen.”

“That’s not true, Sash. The other one kinda looks like Miss Alice.”

“But they are both green like Rippen,” Boone observed.

“I can see that. They’re cute though, Miss Alice.”

“Thank you, Penn.”

“What are their names?” Boone asked.

“Phoenix and Gryffin.”

“Alice?! What are you doing here?”

“What’s wrong, Rip? Your wife can’t be in public without you?”

“Shut up, Penn!,” he yelled before he looked at me. “I thought you were staying home with them.”

“I got bored. And I didn’t think it was bad to let them see their Uncle Phil.”

“Okay, I get it. But I don’t want the heroes around our children like this.”

“Here we go again. They’re not going to influence your precious evil princesses. They just wanted to see them.”

“Although, they probably could be easily persuaded,” Penn teased.

“Whatever,” he huffed before he walked into the HQ with Larry.

“I’m sorry about him. He’s just really protective of his girls. I shouldn’t hold you guys up any longer too. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Bye, Miss Alice,” they all said before going into their HQ. When I walked into our HQ, Rip and Larry were already zapped in, so I just sat at the same table I always sat at and pulled the twins’ stroller closer to me so I could watch them. Phil was in the back somewhere, but as soon as he came back to the front, he hurried to meet me.

“Hello, Alice. I didn’t think you come.”

“I got bored in the house. Plus, I thought the girls would want to see their uncle Phil again.”

“Well, I am favorite uncle. You had bad run-in with heroes?”

“Oh, you heard. I don’t mind them. They’re nice kids. I’m like Larry. I’m not really evil, but I want to help my husband. We both want to help him and we both really care about him. But that doesn’t mean we have to hate those kids like he does.”

“I understand. It Ziegler/Rodgers thing, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You call Anastasia yet? I know you need a nanny.”

“Thanks for reminding me. I’ve been screening a bunch of nannies in my area with my tablet. Of course, Anastasia is one of them. She has a good track record, but I know Rip will want more options.”

“He real cautious with company around twins?”

“Yeah, he is. He’s a good father, but he needs to calm down a little.”

“It first time father thing. Anastasia father same way.”

“I see,” I assured before Gryffin started crying.

“What that?”

“Gryffin’s upset about something,” I explained before I took her out of her crib. “She was just giggling when the heroes were around her. Phoenix has been asleep all day though.” When I held her, she still was crying and picked up her hand like she was reaching for Rip’s goatee. Then I knew why she was upset. She wasn’t hungry or fighting sleep, she missed Rippen. She heard his voice and she was wondering why he wasn’t there.

“You know what is wrong?”

“I have an idea, Phil. Can you open the portal? I think she misses her daddy.”

“Sure.” Luckily, Rippen’s look in this dimension didn’t look different from how he normally looked, so when I showed Gryffin, she started to giggle and reached out to him.

“You see daddy? You see daddy?” I happily asked.

“She daddy girl,” Phil observed.

“Yeah, she really loves her daddy.”

The projection kept her occupied until Rip and Larry zapped back. As soon as she saw him, she reached out for him to hold her, so he came over by us and took her.

“She missed you, Rip, I told him.

“What about Phoenix?”

“She’s been asleep all day. I’m sure she’ll wake up once we get back home though.”

“Okay. Did my little evil princess miss daddy?” he asked before he tickled her and she giggled.

“Aww!,” Larry cooed.

“Really, Larry?”

“What? I just think you’re a good father. You are a nurturing person.”

“Again with this? Really?,” he asked without realizing Gryffin started pulling at his goatee.

“Oww! No, you don’t do that to daddy.” But she still giggled.

“Alright, let’s go home.”

That night, I was looking through all of the nannies I was screening and decided to call of them for an interview while Rippen was tending to Gryffin, who unlike Phoenix, was fighting sleep again.

When he came back in the room, he stripped out his clothes, leaving just his underwear, and cuddled closer to me. But being as curious as he was, he started asking me what I was doing.

“Gryffin’s asleep, finally. All she wants to do is play with my goatee instead of go to sleep. What are you doing?”

“I just finished calling all of the nannies I screened. We’re going to interview all of them, after I drop off the twins to Larry Manor tomorrow.”

“Including Anastasia?”

“Yep, including Anastasia.”

“We need a nanny already?”

“I would like some help while you’re at both of your jobs.”

“Okay, okay. I understand. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Now good night. I need some sleep.”

I didn’t get that great of sleep, since Gryffin kept on waking up in the middle of the night and Rippen made a lot of noise and shook the bed every time he had to get up. You see, since he was Vitruvian, whenever one of them would be in distress, his ears would shake as a signal. It was weird to me, but that’s all a part of being married to a goblin. But that wasn’t all, his ears would also move and shake if he was really happy or really sad, but he would only let that happen around me. He learned how to control it around the heroes and Larry.

The next morning, I let him sleep while I got the twins ready to go to their cousin’s house. I was a little worried though. I knew Phoenix would behave, but I was worried about Gryffin’s behavior. Larry assured that he could handle it, so I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was kinda right though. I mean he did take care of me when I was little…but I was more like Phoenix. Either way, I still took Rip’s car and drove them there before returning home.

When I got back, Rip was making breakfast and was fully dressed. I was glad he was too, because I had no idea when all of the potential nannies were going to show up. He saw me, he handed me a plate with pancakes and the bottle of syrup before smiling and kissing my forehead. I sat down on one of our bar stools before he sat on the one next to me and placed a glass of orange juice in front of me.

“Good morning, my darling Alice.”

“Good morning, Rip. You seem to be in a good mood.”

“I love being a father, Alice. It’s nice to be adored by such a small little creature.”

“You don’t really like getting that much attention from Larry.”

“Not him. I mean Gryffin.”

“I know. She loves her daddy. But it’s cute.”

“So did you bring them to Larry’s already?”

“Yeah, I did. It’s quiet, can’t you tell? I wanted to let you sleep. You were tending to Gryffin all night.”

“I didn’t mind though. Honestly, I don’t really need a lot of sleep. It’s a part of being part demon. I miss her already.”

“I know you do,” I assured before I rubbed his shoulder. “Thank you for breakfast, though.”

“No problem. Anything for my wonderful wife.”

“Oh you.”

Right after we finished breakfast, three of the nannies I called came so Rip and I started to interview each of them individually. The other ones came soon after, but once we were done interviewing all of them and sent them off, Anastasia was nowhere in sight. She said she was coming, so I wondered what was taking her so long. Rip looked irritated that she wasn’t here and was murmuring to himself in some language I couldn’t understand. Honestly, though, I was starting to lose hope too. I almost crossed her name off my list before I heard a knock on the door. 

I rushed to answer it and it was her. She looked a little different then she did in her picture though. She looked half Asian and the green eyes she had in her picture were actually dark brown in real life. Even her skin looked more tan than in the picture but you could tell she was Phyllis’ daughter…and she was about the same height as her. She wore a button up pink jacket that act as a dress, black combat boots, black gloves, and a black hat that almost matched with her black and brunette highlighted hair. But she kept a bright smile on her face and looked like a sweet girl.

“Hello,” she said in a thick Russian accent. “I’m Anastasia Volkov. I’m sorry for my tardiness. My alarm didn’t wake me up. I promise I’m much better usually.”

“That’s fine. It’s nice to meet you, Anastasia. I’m Alice Van Winkle.”

“Nice to meet you too, Miss Van Winkle.”

“Oh, Alice will do.”

“Okay,” she said while she walked with me to the den. Rippen still looked mad, but he pretended to act like he wasn’t bothered that she was late.

“Hello, sir. I’m Anastasia Volkov. I apologize for my tardiness.”

“That’s alright. I’m Rippen Van Winkle. You may sit down.”

“You have a lovely home,” she suddenly said.

“Thank you. Now, why don’t we just get this out of the way?”

“Of course, Mr. Van Winkle. Ask anything you want.”

“For starters, you look different than you did in the picture.”

“Rippen,” I moaned before I elbowed his arm.

“Oh, yes. My boyfriend edited my picture for my pamphlets. And I had different contacts. I wear clear ones now. I also have tan from the sun.”

“Are you half Asian?”

“Rippen!”

“What, Alice? I just want to know.”

“It’s fine, Alice. My father back in St. Petersburg is half Japanese.”

“I see. Just wondering.”

“Anyway, we read your pamphlet and we were really impressed. So you do speak four different languages?”

“Yes. I speak fluent Russian, Japanese, Spanish, and now English. I studied abroad in England to learn English and volunteered at orphanage.”

“And you also volunteered at an orphanage in St. Petersburg.”

“Yes, I used to work their too. I love working with children.”

“Well, that’s good to hear…”

“If we hire you, I put my sole trust in you that you will protect and care for my daughters. I don’t just trust anyone. They are my special little girls and I won’t let anyone hurt them.”

“I understand, Mr. Van Winkle. You sound like my father. I promise to care for your children. I’ll be the best nanny for them.”

“Thank you for your time, Anastasia. We’ll be back in touch once we deliberate.”

“Okay. Thank you for your time as well.”

 

Honestly, it was tough to choose just one woman to be the twins’ nanny, but I already knew who I wanted to hire. I also figured that Rip knew I had my mind made up too. Even Phil was begging us to hire Anastasia. I guess he really missed his niece or something…I’m not really sure…I was never really sure with that man. But later on the next night, Rip and I both agreed to hire Anastasia. We called her the morning after and to our surprise, she came over again that night although we didn’t need her to babysit.

“Anastasia,” I started after I opened our door. “We weren’t expecting you.”

“Oh, Alice. I know. I wanted to give gift.”

“A gift? You didn’t have to get us anything.”

“I insist you take gift. Here you go,” she said before she handed me an envelope.

“Thank you.”

“Open it now.”

“Okay,” I said before I opened the envelope. There was a gift card inside so I picked it up and said, “A 25 dollar gift card to Grapevine Italian Bistro? Thank you, Anastasia. You didn’t have to get us this.”

“No, you deserve it. It’s a thank you gift.”

“Well, we’ll definitely use it. Thank you.”

“How about tonight? You two need a break. I can take care of twins.”

“Tonight? Umm, I should probably ask Rippen first. He’s tending to them right now. But you can come in for the time being.”

“Thank you for your invitation, Alice,” she assured before she walked in with me and sat on our sofa. Meanwhile, I went to ask Rippen about Anastasia offer, but he didn’t notice me by the door instead he was holding Gryffin again and playing with her.

“Rippen,” I quietly said. He just looked up and smiled before he motioned me to come closer. I went over and saw Gryffin holding Freddie in her little arms.

“She likes Freddie, a lot. She gets mad when I take him from her. Look…watch…,” he said before he tried to grab him from her. She smacked his hand and grabbed him back though. I was shocked, but then he started to giggle so I followed along.

“Wow. She really likes him. Do they mature faster than human babies?”

“Yeah. They’ll be very advanced for their age especially in school.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, Anastasia’s here and she gave me this,” I started before I handed him the envelope.

“A gift card to an Italian bistro?” he observed after he took the card out of the envelope. “Well, that was a nice gesture but why did she give you this?”

“She said it was a thank you gift and that we needed a break.”

“A break? A break from what?”

“Our busy schedules…she’s willing to look after the girls.”

“Tonight?”

“Yeah, tonight. I mean we really haven’t had time alone in a while. It would be nice to go on a little date like we did when we first started dating.”

“I guess you’re right. We had good times, huh?”

“Yeah. I miss those days. I enjoyed being your student teacher.”

“I enjoyed your company in class too. It was nice.”

“I love you,” I giggled before I kissed him.

“I love you too. And if you want to go out tonight, I will be willing to go out too.”

“Okay. Well, we should probably get ready then. You think Gryffin will stay quiet long enough?”

“Yeah. She has Freddie, so she’ll be okay,” he assured before he placed her in her crib and covered her with her blanket. She yawned and held onto Freddie as she started to fall asleep.

“Wow. He actually helped her fall asleep.”

“He did. I guess he is magic. Well, let’s let her sleep.”

“Okay,” I assured before we walked out of the room. When we walked back into the living room, Anastasia was talking on the phone and I guess she was speaking in Russian because I couldn’t understand what she was saying…but she did sound aggravated. Rippen and I walked passed her though and started to get ready for our date. Rip just put on his usual business casual attire, but I wanted to wear something a little dressier. I had a purple dress that Aunt Gwen made me, so I settled on that and put on my gold hoops and other gold jewelry Rippen gave me, pulled my afro up in a purple ribbon, put on my makeup, and switched out my normal blue frames with my yellow frames. Rippen was always intrigued by the way I decorated myself, so he always would come behind me, wrap his arms around me, and whisper ‘you’re so beautiful’ before he would kiss my cheek and neck. I would always giggle and repay him with a kiss.

“Alright, are you ready to go?” he asked after I kissed him.

“Yeah, I’m ready, handsome.”

“Okay, beautiful, let’s go then.” When we walked out of our room, Anastasia was off her phone, but she did make herself at home. She started flipping through the channels on our TV and didn’t even notice that we were in the room until Rip knocked into the countertop of our kitchenette.

“Oh. You’re back. Sorry for earlier. Father called and he wants me to come back home. I said no and then he got mad.”

“Oh, okay. That’s fine. The girls are sleeping in the nursery, but…”

“If Gryffin wakes up, play the music box I have on their nightstand and don’t take Freddie from her. If she’s hungry, all of her bottles are under the cabinet and all you have to do is warm it for a minute in the microwave. And if that doesn’t work, I have a scrapbook I leave under the cabinet. Sometimes she misses me, so if you show her a picture of me, she’ll calm down and be preoccupied,” Rippen instructed.

“What about the other one?”

“Phoenix is very well behaved,” I assured. “She’ll probably stay asleep, but if not, just give her a bottle and she’ll fall back to sleep.”

“Okay. They’re polar opposites, huh?”

“Pretty much,” I answered.

“I’m trusting you with my girls now, Anastasia. They’re my world and if anything happens to them, there’s going to be repercussions.”

“I understand, Mr. Van Winkle. Phoenix and Gryffin will be safe with me. You two have a good night. You deserve it.”

“Okay, Anastasia. Thanks again,” I said before she closed the door behind us.

After we walked down to the parking lot, Rippen started to shuffle through his pockets to find his keys and once he found them, he unlocked his car and let me in first before he got into the drivers’ seat. But before he even took off, I asked,

“You have your wallet right? Remember the last time we went out before the twins were born?”

“Yes, I remember, Alice. You never let me live that down. I hated that you had to pay, but sometimes I can be forgetful. You seem to forget I’m centuries older than you. But, yes, I have my wallet. See,” he assured before he took it out of his pocket and then put it back.

“I was just making sure, Rip. You are very prideful.”

“I know, Alice. I know you always mean well and want what’s best for me,” he assured before he took my hand and kissed it. “Now let’s go.”

“Rip, do you trust Anastasia?” I asked right after he drove out of our apartment complex.

“What made you ask me that?”

“I don’t know…it’s just that you looked so worried when the offer for us to go on a date came up. And you basically threatened her…”

“Honestly, Alice, I don’t trust her. I’m going to have to call her a couple of times while we are out to make sure everything is on the up and up. We don’t know her like that. All we know is that she’s Phil’s niece…that’s it. Phoenix and Gryffin are still newborns and I’m a new father so I’m going to be worried about leaving them with just anyone. I love those girls too much for something to happen to them.”

“I understand, Rip. I think we can trust Anastasia though. Phoenix and Gryffin will be fine. I promise.”

“I hope so, Alice. I hope so. Oh, we’re here,” he observed before he parked, got out, and helped me out of the car. As we walked into the place, I looked around and saw a number of couples walking in for what I presumed were their designated date nights. The exterior of Grapevine was pretty plain and just decorated with colorful lights against terracotta walls whereas the interior was much more playful. I kept on looking around at the jade pillars, ornamented walls and décor, paintings on the ceilings, and  
the huge, bright chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. But there was something else I noticed while we walked in…

Everyone was staring at us and they weren’t even being inconspicuous about it. They made it so obvious that they were staring, but I think either Rippen didn’t notice or didn’t care because he acted like he didn’t see them staring. I mean even the maître d’ was obviously staring and was very afraid of Rippen.

“Hello. Welcome to…ahh! I mean welcome to Grapevine. Is there just two of you?”

“Yes, there is,” I quickly answered before wrapping my arm around Rip’s.

“Alright. Well, come with me.”

“Excuse me, sir!” a man called that was waiting on the side. “You told us that there was a fifteen minute wait for a table.”

“I know what I said, but I can make arrangements for this lovely lady and her strapping lad.”

“So now there’s special treatment for beasts and their human lovers,” he huffed under his breath.

“Such a shame,” the woman with him added. “They have plenty of human men you can gawk over, miss. Do you really think you have to settle for a gremlin?”

“He looks more like a goblin to me,” the man joked.

“Right this way,” the maître d’ insisted after totally ignoring the couple’s rude comments.

Although I wasn’t very happy with his treatment of Rippen either, I decided to be nice to him although I was a little suspicious as to why he let us go above the rules. And my suspicions were correct considering the fact that he sat us way in the back of the restaurant. Rippen didn’t seem to care though and he was still keeping his gentleman like behavior since he helped me in my seat like he always did and just thanked the maître d’ with a fake smile.

“So we’re all the way in the back? Figures. I’m used to it though.”

“What? You never told me that. I mean when we went on dates, this would never happen.”

“This is a fancy establishment. The places I took you weren’t that fancy. I didn’t want to subject you to the cruel prejudice that uppity human folk put on me because I’m different. I figured it was hard enough being black in America, I didn’t want to make it worse for you.”

“Oh, Rip,” I started before I held his hand. “I don’t care what they think. I love you no matter what. It is hard being a black woman in America but I’ve learned to deal with it. Things won’t change overnight, but I still wake up with a little sense of faith. But anyway, I love you, Vladimir Rippen Van Winkle, and I never will stop loving you. You’re not a beast or a goblin or a gremlin…I don’t care what you are…it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you truly love me and care for me. You’re my best friend and you’re the sweetest and kindest man I’ve ever met. You’re a wonderful husband and an even more amazing father. And I want to help you make all your dreams and wishes come true. I’ll never stop  
believing in you.”

“Alice, that’s why I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I realize now that your love is what I have desired for so long. You understand me… you get me. You’re not afraid of me, you care for me, and you’re always there when I need you. You’re a keeper, Alice. And I love you so much.”

“Aww. You’re making me blush. But nothing will happen to me, Rip. I promise.”

“Hello, welcome to Grapevine, I’m going to be your…ahh…waiter, Reuben. I hope you’re having a lovely evening, miss,” he said before he took my hand and kissed it. I looked over at Rippen right at that moment and he did not look very amused. Actually, he gave him the same glare he always gives Penn. “I see you’re out with your…friend…um…significant other…”

“I’m her husband, you swine!”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, sir. I was just trying to be nice. You shouldn’t let her out alone though. You have a very pretty wife, sir.”

“I know. But I married her for more than her looks…wait…why am I entertaining you? Can you just do your job and take our order?!”

“Sure thing, sir. But ladies first. What would you like to drink, madame?”

“We’ll just share a bottle of pinot grigio.”

“Okay. Excellent choice. I’ll be right on that, miss. And sir, may I just say you have delightful accent…although I don’t remember seeing anyone like you on my last trip to London.”

“I’m not even going to entertain you. Just go get what my wife ordered before I slit your goddamn throat!”

“Wow. The beast awakens,” he moaned before he walked away.

“Rippen, don’t let him bother you. You know you’re better than any of these half-witted insults these people are throwing at you.”

“It’s not what they’re saying about me anymore, it’s the way that waiter is treating you. I want another waiter. He’s harassing you. I don’t want him flirting or touching you anymore.”

“If he goes too far, I know how to handle him. It’s just child’s play right now and I’m trying not to act like the angry black woman in a public, fancy establishment filled with so many white people. I won’t let him take advantage of me though.”

“Everyone in here is talking about us.”

“What? How do you know? You can read lips?”

“No, but I have supersonic hearing…and I can read minds whenever I want to. It’s a part of being part demon. They’re all terrified of me…which honestly I don’t care, but now you’re in the crossfire and I don’t like that much. I’m more of a villain here and I’m not even doing anything except sitting and breathing.”

“Rip, I already told you that I don’t care what they think. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we’re happy in our marriage and we love each other no matter what. They can point and laugh and joke all they want, but I know I’m the luckiest woman in here because I have you for a husband.”

“I’m lucky to have you for a wife. You think I should spook them out some more.”

“Nah. It’s not worth it. Let’s just pretend it is just you and me…no one else here…just us.”

“I like the way you think, Alice.”

I’m glad I came up with the idea of pretending that we were the only people in the restaurant because Rip and I actually had more fun that way. It was actually kind of nice just being with him again like it used to be too. We laughed and joked about our past and our lives today and our jobs and such. Our waiter ruined the effect a couple of times, but it was still a wonderful experience I shared with my husband. But then things took a turn for the worse…Rip had to call Anastasia to make sure the twins were okay, so he left me alone at the table and trust me, I was holding my pepper spray and pocket knife in my hands under the table. Before he left, he gave me a little kiss and I just went back to eating my shrimp scampi after. Reuben came back to the table and felt the need to sit down in Rip’s seat. I gave him this look and moved one of my hands to my lap where my pepper spray and pocket knife was lying. He had this sly smile on his face and he handed me a small piece of paper. And strangely, no one thought it was weird that this waiter wasn’t doing his job and was trying to talk to me like we were friends or some shit. I unfolded the paper and it was his number…like I assumed. Then what he told me sickened me.

“Why did you give me this?”

“Oh, I figured you would need someone to comfort you once you got your senses back. I mean a pretty woman like you shouldn’t have to settle for a beast. I mean you’re not Belle.”

“I prefer the ‘beast’ than Gaston. And I didn’t settle. I love my husband. I don’t care that he’s not a human.”

“You must be joking. Did he kidnap you? Did he force you to fall for him? You got Stockholm syndrome?”

“Oh, so just because he looks like an anime antagonist, he just has to be either a kidnapper or a rapist. I’ll have you know that my husband is the sweetest guy ever.”

“He poisoned your mind, girl. I can save you. I can break the spell,” he assured before he leaned in to kiss me. I quickly picked up my pepper spray and sprayed him in the face. He started to scream and holler but I didn’t care. I also kicked him in the groin and dumped my wine on his head. Everyone was looking but I didn’t give a damn. He was totally harassing me and he deserved it.

“Why did you do that?”

“Because I love my ‘beast’ and you’re a womanizing asshole! I told you I was married, dickhead. Uhh! I’m done with all of you horrible people! I’m taking my ‘beast’ and our money and leaving!,” I proclaimed before I kicked him in the groin again. As soon as I did that, Rip walked in and he was both shocked and impressed.

“No one messes with my wife, Reuben. But since you got such an ass kicking, I’ll give you a dollar tip for pity. I may be a beast, but I scored a beauty. And she loves me despite my differences and flaws,” he said before he hugged me closer to him. “I’ll give the money we owe to your boss though before you leave. Pleasure doing business with you. Let’s get out of this pretentious place, babe.”

“I’m right behind you.”

“So where do you want to go next? The night is still young,” he said after we got in the car.

“Next? Really? I’m surprised you don’t want to go home. That was a horrible dinner.”

“It’s fine. Anastasia meant well. Besides, I got to see Reuben get his ass kicked by my sexy villainess wife. That was worth every penny. I kinda have a sweet tooth, myself.”

“I was thinking maybe ice cream.”

“Okay. I know just the place,” he assured before he took off.

“So are you okay with Anastasia now?”

“Yeah, Gryffin sounded happy.”

“Oh, she’s awake. Figures.”

“Anastasia took all of my advice, and Gryffin seems happy and occupied…although she didn’t want me to go. Anastasia had to put on the music box for her to calm down.”

“Aww. You do have a soothing singing voice. I guess that’s why she likes that music box so much.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. You do.”

“Well, thank you, Alice. I can always serenade you some nights, if you would like.”

“Yeah, I would like that.”

After we got our ice cream (I always got chocolate chip cookie dough and Rip always got strawberry shortcake…or cheesecake depending on the place), we walked to the park across the street to finish the rest of our cones. The park was lit up with huge lampposts and the lights from several apartments, condos, and skyscrapers that surrounded it. Many couples were either walking around, holding hands or they were just talking and sitting on the benches or on the grass underneath picnic blankets. Rip and I just sat on a nearby bench and I cuddled closer to him since I was done with my ice cream by the time we sat down.

“It’s such a pretty night. I’m glad we didn’t go home right away.”

“It is. That’s also why I didn’t want to go home right away. Middleburg is always pretty at night.”

“Are you just saying that because you’re drawn to darkness?”

“Shut up, Toni.”

“I love you, Vladie.”

“I love you too.”

“Rip, baby, you’re making a mess with that ice cream cone. You got strawberry cheesecake dripping all on me.”

“Would you rather my sperm?”

“Rippen! We’re in public.”

“Alice, does it look like I give a damn?”

“No, it doesn’t. I do like giving you head and swallowing but I can’t have sex right now, remember. Reminding me of our sexcapades is making me horny.”

“We can still give each other head. They just mean no intercourse.”

“Oh, I see. I kinda want you to eat me out like your eating that ice cream.”

“If Gryffin stays asleep all night, I’ll eat you out. But you have to give my jolly rancher a good taste too right after.”

“Okay. Deal. Oh my gosh! You have ice cream all over your face.”

“I do? Where?”

“Right here,” I said before I kissed him. After, he just smiled and pulled me closer to him before he started to French kiss me.

“Oooh. That felt good.”

“It did. But I better get some napkins. I’ll be back.”

“Okay,” I chirped with a big smile on my face. I didn’t even notice a man coming closer to me in the darkness. I was looking at my phone screen when I saw him behind me. He was a young black man with a lanky build and he was fairly tall. He smiled at me and then asked,

“Hello, beautiful. What’s your name?”

“Alice.”

“That’s a pretty name. I’m Peter. I couldn’t help but see you from afar and your beauty is radiant. I’m usually not this bold, but would you like to go out with me one day?”

“No, I can’t.”

“What?! You’re rejecting me?”

“Yes, I am. I’m married.”

“To who? Where is he?”

“He’s by the ice cream stand, not that it’s any of your business.”

“Oh. Is he behind that hideous green beast?”

“That ‘hideous green beast’ is my husband. And he has a name.”

“What? You’re into gremlins and goblins. Well, I can swing at that. I can paint myself green if you’re into that.”

“You’re a pig. Leave me alone. I already told you no.”

“I don’t take no for an answer.”

“Well, you’re going to have to. My wife told you to leave her alone.”

“Aaah! You’re even scarier up close.”

“I got this, Rippen,” I assured before I flipped him, twisted his arm, and kicked him in the groin.

“Listen, Peter, the next time a girl tells you she’s not interested, listen to her. Learn to take no as an answer, asshole.”

“Okay. Okay,” he moaned.

“Let’s go, Rip. I’m done dealing with these misogynistic pigs of Middleburg for the night.”

“I hear you on that, Alice. You’re impressive.”

“I know.”

 

As soon as we walked through the front door of our apartment, we could hear Gryffin giggling but we could also hear creaking coming from a crib. Then we noticed the faint sound of their music box playing. We walked to the nursery and saw Anastasia looking through the scrapbook Rip left with Gryffin and she was giggling and pointing at the pictures with one hand, and holding Freddie in her other little arm. And surprisingly, Phoenix was up and she figured out how to stand up in her crib and bounce back and forth while gripping the side of the crib. She was giggling too. Anastasia looked up and just smiled and said,

“Hey. Welcome back. How was your date?”

“It was,” Rip moaned before he went to pick up Gryffin from Anastasia grasp.

“It was pretty interesting, but we still had fun. We missed our girls though,” I assured before I picked Phoenix up. “How long has she been up? I’m glad she’s up though. It’s bath time.”

“She just woke up. Gryffin and I were looking through your scrapbook and I had to play the music box because she got fussy. They both had a bottle too.”

“Wow. I really misjudged you, Anastasia. Thank you for looking after them so properly.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Van Winkle.”

“You can call me Rippen. You earned it.”

“Okay. These two are a joy to watch. They are really smart girls for their age. I’m going to really enjoy being their nanny.”

“Well, thank you again for your trouble. Here’s your wage,” I said before I handed her the money in an envelope.

“It was no problem, Alice. Well, I better go. My boyfriend is getting anxious. Have a good rest of your night and I’ll see you lovely girls later,” she assured before she rustled their hair and kissed their cheeks.

The girls must have really liked Anastasia because as soon as she left, they started crying. Like both of them…even quiet little Phoenix. We were able to calm them down after we gave them another bottle but then we had to give them a bath. They both had a portable little tub that we used and we would put them side by side in our master bedroom tub and bathe them that way. They loved getting a bath too. Gryffin especially liked the ticklish feeling whenever Rip would scrub clean her tummy and Phoenix loved splashing and playing in the bubbles.

After their bath, Rip moved one of the rocking chairs to the center of the room and started reading from one of the storybooks he used to read to me when I was younger while the girls sat upright on his lap. They both liked the pictures and Gryffin would point and babble while Phoenix would bounce, giggle, and clap her little hands. I stood behind him and just watch their interaction. It was just nice seeing him be so fatherly to his daughters. It was almost refreshing in a way.

Soon enough, they fell asleep so we put them in their cribs and Rip made sure to put Freddie in Gryffin’s arms as she slept. He wound the music box again but low the volume before he turned off the light and walked out of the nursery behind me. We both took a nice long shower, but after, I went to our room and started reading my manga again while Rip stayed behind. A few minutes passed and I was beginning to worry about what was going on in there. Finally, he came out but he looked different…he looked human…

I was spooked when I saw him. He had the same build and spiky hair except he now had pale skin and bright green eyes and his fingers weren’t pointy anymore. He smiled at me, but I just gave him a concerned look before he took my hand and asked,

“What’s wrong? You don’t like this? I’m normal.”

“What?! No, I don’t like this. Change back. You’re not the man I married.”

“But I’m normal. You’ll have a normal husband.”

“I don’t want a normal husband, I want you…the real you. The man I married.”

“Ugh!” he groaned. “I’m doing this for you!” Now I was really scared. He looked angry and he banged his fists against our bed. Then all of a sudden, he turned into his demon form. His eyes stayed a glowing green color but his skin turned crimson red, two goat horns poked out of his head, and his teeth turned pointy.

“Rippen. Calm down. This isn’t like you,” I petitioned. “I thought you didn’t care what people thought of you. Why are you letting these people effect you?”

“It’s not about me!” he boomed. “It’s about you. I don’t want you to deal with my problems. You’re innocent. You don’t deserve this. I’m a monster, Alice. You deserve better. I can’t even control my anger. I have demons you won’t even believe. You don’t need that in your life.”

“Rippen, you’re not a monster. This isn’t you. This is just how you feel. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!” he boomed before he smacked me. He hit me so hard, I fell off the bed. But once he realized what he did, he ran back into our bathroom and slammed the door. Some blood dripped from my mouth, but I was okay. I got up and I could hear him chanting in some strange language and it frightened me. But I wonder what came over him and why would he hit me?

I just stood by the door before he came out. He was decked in white fur, his teeth were sticking out of his mouth, and his black spiky hair was now just a burnt sienna color. I didn’t look at him for long though. I put my head down but then I noticed that he started to cry. He threw his big arms around me and started to cry harder. Then he moaned,

“I’m sorry, Alice. I’m sorry. I can’t believe I hit you. I don’t know what came over me.”

“Oh, Rip,” I cooed before he looked at me. “I don’t know what came over you either…” Then I slapped him back. He held his face and just look at me with a confused look on his face.

“Vladimir Rippen Van Winkle! What the fuck were you thinking?! Why the fuck would you smack me?! I’m your goddamn wife and you’re going to show me some goddamn respect. I care about you.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t know how to control my anger sometimes.”

“Well, smacking me isn’t going to help. If you do that again, I’ll slit your goddamn throat while you’re sleeping. Don’t play with me.”

“I understand, Alice.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” I cooed before I picked his head up. “Look at me. Rip, I love you with all of my heart and I forgive you…besides, I already told you the consequences if you do it again. What made you have an episode like that anyway? You’ve never done that before.”

“I don’t know. I guess I just had a violent flashback. I was always treated differently since I was younger and when I got stranded on this crater, people would treat me even more differently. I would always tell myself that I didn’t care, but I do care. I have feelings. I didn’t ask to be stranded here. I didn’t ask to be born this way. You and Larry are the only ones that understand me. I still give Larry a lot of shit, but he was really my only friend until you came back. I want you to be happy, though, Alice. You’re my world and I don’t want people to mistreat you. I just want what’s best for you.”

“I know, Rip. I understand why you’re upset though. I was bullied a lot during my life and Gia was my only friend. We have a lot more in common than you think. That’s why we make such a great team. That’s why our marriage is successful. We love each other and we build each other up. I wouldn’t have it any other way, Rip. I love you and I always will. I don’t want a perfect, normal life. I want an adventure and being with you makes every day an adventure.”

“You’re the best, Alice.”

“I know…but thank you. And you know, I still kinda have a sweet tooth. Maybe your jolly rancher could satisfy my craving.”

“Maybe it could,” he said before winking at me. “Just give me three minutes.”

“Okay, knucklehead,” I teased before I gave him an eskimo kiss and rustled his hair. After three minutes on the dot, he came back in the room bare but in his own skin and he had a pink condom on this time.

“Now there’s the man I married,” I cooed before I got up and out of the bed. He didn’t answer me back though, instead he grabbed me and pushed me into the nearby wall before we started making out. His hands wandered all over my body but I didn’t mind. I liked to feel his soft touch on my body. I just kept my hands above his neck and worked my fingers through his hair as he kept passionately kissing me. Suddenly, he moved his lips from mine and started to lick and kiss my neck before he got to where he left his mark. He knew exactly what he was doing though. The strange looking yet small, raised, green scar on my neck was a permanent lover’s mark that gave me the most arousal once  
touched or licked or kissed. He would only really mess with it though when we were having intercourse, but since we couldn’t, I guess he wanted to give me that same sense of arousal and orgasmic pleasure. I think I lost all self-control once he started licking it. I held on tight to his neck and moaned and groaned as he kissed and licked my mark.

“Oh, Rip! Oh, Rip! Ugh. Stop. Stop.” I guess he took my pleas to heart, since he stopped what he was doing and just looked at me.

“Are you okay? Was I hurting you?”

“No. No. You were doing so well. That felt so good. Wait, is Gryffin awake?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Your ears are shaking.”

“Oh, they are,” he giggled before he pulled on them to make them stop. “I’m just excited.”

“You’re so cute,” I chirped.

“I know…but thank you.” I just giggled and went down on him. He didn’t tell me what flavor condom he was wearing but as I sucked on it, it tasted kinda tangy and sour yet really sweet. I was gripping his legs to keep steady while he kept his hand on the back of my neck as he thrusted in and out of my mouth. Strangely, it didn’t take long for him to climax. He started to moan and groan louder like he always did before I felt his cum slide down my throat after I slid the condom off with my teeth. He came a lot more than usual, so I was gasping for air after he was done. But he looked satisfied and pleasured, so I figured I did well.

“Did I tire you out?” I teased.

“No. But I’m craving your pussy right now.”

“Ooh. I was hoping you would say that.”

He didn’t disappoint me either. I was muffle screaming his name and moaning and groaning as he pleasured me. There were a couple of times I started kicking my legs, too much to the point that he had to hold my legs still. And I hated that his hair would always brush against my legs and tickle me as he went on. After that, we took another shower and went back to our room before he held me in his big arms. He went back to his white fur and burnt sienna hair, but I didn’t mind. Actually, I kinda liked this other side of him. I have to admit, my little knucklehead was adorable…

“Didn’t you look like this on one of those missions before I came back into the picture?”

“Yeah. We were in London actually.”

“You told me you never been there before our honeymoon. You remember?”

“I mean I never went there to just visit. That was business…and it was a different dimension.”

“Same dif. You totally lied to me, knucklehead,” I teased before I punched his arm.

“I didn’t mean to. Is that my nickname now?”

“Yeah. I don’t like calling you ‘man beast’ anymore.”

“I don’t mind if you call me that. You’re my wife.”

“No. I want to consider your feelings. I sometimes forget you’re sensitive. But there’s nothing wrong with that. I love that about you. You’re very sweet and understanding.”

“Thank you, Alice. I apologize for that episode though.”

“I forgive you. Just don’t let it happen again.”

“I won’t. I know better now.”

“I love this side of you. You’re so adorable. I mean I love you in your normal form too though.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, handsome.”

“You are Larry’s cousin.”

“I know. I’m a Ziegler and a Rodgers. That’s how we roll.”

“I love you, Alice Rodgers.”

“And I love you too, Rippen Van Winkle.”


	9. Lady Montague

“No, no, no!” I screamed before I banged on the table below my many surveillance screens in the hidden corridor of my study. “This was not supposed to happen. They weren’t supposed to make up! She was supposed to be terrified of him!!!”

“Your majesty,” my advisor Temina called. “She is here.”

“Send her in. I need to have a word with her.”

“Of course, your majesty.”

“You rang?” she teased in her thick German accent. “What is the problem?”

“Yes, remember your last visit?”

“Yes, how could I forget. It was after I saw my darling Shamael after all these centuries.”

“I asked you a favor, did I not?”

“You did and I did the favor. What more do you want from me?”

“It didn’t work. She’s even more in love with him.”

“Look, you asked me to make his shapeshifting powers go array. I did that. Alice’s response was nothing I had control over. What happened anyway? I love making my brother miserable but I didn’t care enough to see the aftermath.”

“She was spooked for a while but then they made up.”

“Oh, I see. Looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Alice must be a hard nut to crack. She’s been talking shit about me for a while too. I just have to try real hard to crush her. I guess both she and her cousin are resilient to anything Vladie can dish out.”

“Her cousin? What do they have to do with anything?”

“Her cousin, Lawrence Rodgers, is my brother’s worthless henchman. And I mean really worthless. The guy has no evil bone in his body.”

“Oh, what a shame. Vlad has always been soft though. He must have had pity on him.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“I don’t understand how your power didn’t work properly. Didn’t you say that Shamael helped you break the barrier around Earth?”

“He did. But I only have so much power outside of the Earth’s atmosphere. The timing must be right for me to strike fear into the hearts of those worthless humans.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Did you hold up your end of the bargain, Mira? Where is this henchman you promised me?”

“I invited her to come over. She’s just late.”

“She? You said it was a man.”

“Jennae needs some discipline. I figured you could help straighten her out. She doesn’t behave like a proper duchess. I figured Vlurgen Viore could check her attitude.”

“Is she a young feeble mind?”

“She’s the same age as Aleksandr.”

“I see. Well, that’s young enough. That little brat needs to get here quick. I have things to do.”

“This is just like her to be late. I apologize.”

“It’s not your fault, Mira. I missed our friendship. We’re just delightfully evil together. But why do you even care about my brother again? You didn’t care over a hundred years ago.”

“Oh, Vlurgen, I still love your brother but he was just too indecisive to be a ruler. I had to get rid of the deadweight because being Empress of Caluga meant I had to keep my mouth shut and I had no say. I was tired of being second fiddle to incompetent men…especially that fool he called a friend. I wanted better for Aleksandr and me. That’s why I helped you with the invasion. My conscience is clear though. I made those worthless Naaru civilians feel sorry for me and made my way up the latter. It took a little blood and sweat, from the insubordinate men I faced, but now I’m queen bee and Aleksandr and I have the perfect life.”

“Perfect life? All you do is mope around and whine about how much you miss my brother.”

“Is it wrong for a woman to miss her ex-husband? A man that she truly still loves? Alice doesn’t deserve him. She’s just a cheap, human knock off of me.”

“But yet you call my brother incompetent. Oh, he’s very competent but he’s also too careless and too polite all of the time. For the longest, you kissed the ground he walked on since he freed you from Drakar.”

“I still appreciate his kindness, he just wasn’t a good king. He would listen to what I had to say, but his advisors would always shut me down and call my insubordinate.”

“I see. I guess I do understand your pain. I miss my Shamael too. Actually, we made up a couple of nights ago. I forgot how great he was at sex. I know he still loves me and as soon as his new wife finds out that he helped me, she’ll dump him and he’ll come running back to me.”

“Your majesty, Duchess Jennae has arrived.”

“Thank you, Temina. Send her in.”

“Of course, your majesty.”

“Hey. Lady Montague,” Jennae greeted half-heartedly as she walked in. She even had the audacity to walk in my study with her eyes glued to her communicator.

“Jennae! What have I told you about having that vile communicator in your grasp when you are visiting me?”

“You told me not to have it,” she grumbled. Vlurgen just smiled at me and caught the communicator out of her hands using her telekinesis and threw it against one of the walls. 

“Hey! What the h…Lady Montague, what is the Wicked Witch of the West doing here?! She doesn’t even like our people.”

“You insolent worm! You are to address me as Dark Empress Vlurgen or Your Highness.”

“I’ll address you the way I want to address you, witch! You mean nothing to me. Why is she here, Lady Montague?!”

“Vlurgen is an old friend and she’s helping me with a master plan. I would like it if you went with her to help her.”

“What?! You expect me to help her?! I don’t help Calugians and especially not there Empress.”

“Jennae Tamia Flash! You are going to help her. You need an attitude adjustment.”

“I will not!”

“Jennae, you will. Your parents told me I was responsible for you after they passed. I’m your mother now and what I say goes. You’re going with her, end of story.”

“What am I even helping with? I would like to know.”

“We don’t give debriefing to ungrateful duchesses,” Vlurgen remarked.

“Right. Now, Vlurgen, I don’t care what you have to do…you can burn down the whole motherfucking town for all I care...but I need you to rip their family apart.”

“I love how your plans always involve betraying my brother and making him miserable. I love that. I can do that for you, Mira. But if you do get him back, what are you going to do? He can still think for himself.”

“You mean when I get him back. Don’t worry, Vlurgen. Once I’m done with him, he’ll be a little, subordinate love puppet. And Jennae, don’t give my friend trouble. You better listen to her.”

“You don’t have to worry about that, Mira. She’ll listen if she treasures her life."


	10. Dark Empress Vlurgen

Mira wasn’t kidding about Jennae’s attitude. She did nothing but complain on our way back to Caluga and I wanted to snap her neck, but I decided to be cordial for Mira’s sake. Besides, I knew how to straighten her out. I knew. She looked frightened when I took her to my evil lair, but I didn’t mind since it kept her quiet. Sergey and Boris, my two main henchmen, were playing pool before I screamed at them and demanded that they face me front and center. But they both looked dumbfounded when they saw Jennae.

“Where’s Alexei?! The time is of the essence. I have no time to waste!”

“He got everything set up, your highness,” Sergey chirped. “Shamael stopped by earlier too. He wanted me to give you this letter.”

“Give me that,” I demanded before I snatched it from him. “Well, why are you just standing there?! Get Alexei now!!”

“I’ll get him,” Boris assured before he ran to the other door.

“Your highness…”

“Yes, Sergey?”

“What is…”

“Ugh! Sergey! Spit it out! I hate when you moaned and stutter!”

“Why do you have a Naaruian woman with you?”

“Look, ugly, I don’t want to be here either. I wouldn’t be caught dead around your kind.” As soon as she said that, I zapped her and when she got back to her senses…well, I had a good laugh.

“Aah! I look like you ugly people! And pigtails?! Eww.”

“Actually, you look better that way,” Sergey added.

“Shut up! Why do you do this to me?!”

“I wouldn’t be caught dead with a Naaruian. You’re working for me now, kid!”

“What? She’s going to Middleburg with you?”

“What?! I’m going to Earth…around yucky humans?! No, no. I did not sign up for this. I’m out.”

“No, you’re not. Mira promised your services to me.”

“But your highness, Boris and I could aid you.”

“Sergey, my mind is made up. You two along with Alexei need to stay here.”

“Of course, your majesty,” he assured before bowing.

“Your majesty,” Alexei started before bowing to me.

“Move it along, Alexei! I don’t have all day! Stop your groveling and get to it!”

“Yes, your majesty. Everything is up and running. Your daughter and Myrtah’s cohorts are between dimensions right now. Would you like me to send you there? I mean you can go to Earth now if you choose.”

“Send me where my daughter is.”

“Of course, your majesty.”

“Alright, Jennae. Let’s be on our way.” She left my side and when I looked over, I saw her messing with my test dummies and staring at the henchmen’s dart boards.

“Wow. So these must be the humans you don’t like. I didn’t know you had a daughter.”

“Yes, I do. She thinks she’s human now though. But yes, those are the humans I don’t like.”

“Wow. You really hate them. Doesn’t this seem a bit extreme?”

“Don’t question me, Jennae. Now let’s be on our way!”


	11. Alice

“Did you feel that?! Did you feel that?!” Larry repeated as we walked further into the dimension that we were zapped into. Rippen totally ignored what he was saying, but I knew he could feel the same phenomenon both Larry and I were feeling. The atmosphere just felt cold all of a sudden, my breaths began to feel heavier and shorter, then the ground started to shake beneath our feet. I could sense a presence greater than us among us, but I couldn’t explain it or understand it.

We were in a fortress, but when I looked down from where we were, I could see the heroes were wondering what was going on like Larry and I were. They looked both scared and troubled and as soon as I noticed that, I thought I was going crazy but I could swear I saw a dark shadow appearing from the beyond. I blinked and it disappeared. But as soon as it vanished, the wind began to blow harder and the ground began to rumble again. When I looked over at Rippen after, he looked frightened but he pretended like he wasn’t scared.

“There’s a shadow! Did you see that shadow?” Larry excitedly asked. “What is it? Where did it come from? What does this mean?”

“Larry, enough. It’s nothing. It’s all in your head,” Rippen grumbled.

“It’s not in his head, Rip. I see it too. I know you felt the rumbling and the cold air. Stop pretending like you didn’t. Something found its way in this dimension and it doesn’t seem like something nice.”

“You too, Alice?! It’s nothing. I assure you it’s nothing.”

“Alright, that’s enough! Rip, what are you doing? I know all this is you.”

“I assure you, Penn Zero, this isn’t me. I don’t know what’s going on.”

“He really doesn’t,” I assured.

“Okay, Miss Alice.”

“Aah!”

“Whoa. Whoa. Sash, what happened? Why did you scream?”

“I felt something touch me. I thought it was Boone being silly, but it wasn’t. The touch felt cold…like an inhumane type of cold. I don’t know what’s going on or what’s lurking in the shadows, but they need to reveal themselves. I’ll fix them.”

“That is weird. Well, let’s just beat Ol’ Rip right quick and get out of here. Maybe Phyllis will know what the heck’s going on here.”

“Nee-yah-ha-ha-ha! You really think you’ll be able to defeat me, Penn?!”

“Yeah, we always do.”

“He makes a good point,” I added.

“Alice! Whose side are you on?”

“Yours, knucklehead.”

“Hey, Miss Alice, that’s a good name for him.”

“Oh, I know, Penn.”

 

**5 Minutes Later**

“I can’t believe Phyllis didn’t know what was going on,” Penn moaned as we all walked out from our HQs. “She would usually know about this type of stuff.”

“I guess not, PZ. She looked a little spooked though. Actually, I’m a little spooked myself. Nothing like this ever happens.”

“I saw a person in the shadows! I swear I saw a person in the shadows!” Larry chirped.

“I did too. Did they have glowing green eyes?”

“Yeah, they did.”

“Enough you two. Nothing was in the shadows.”

“Rippen, I know you saw exactly what we saw and felt exactly what we felt. We all experienced something supernatural, it wouldn’t just skip you.”

“Yeah, Miss Alice is right. We need to figure out what’s going on. You think we could put aside our differences and figure out what’s going on together, Rip?”

“Over my dead body, Penn!” he huffed.

“Can’t you just…” But before she could finish her thought, she just blacked out and fainted right in front of us. All of us, except for Rippen, panicked.

“Sash! Sash!” Penn called after he held her in his arms.

“Penn…it was the shadow…it was the shadow…” Then she closed her eyes.

“Something tells me that shadow Miss Alice and Larry saw was the same shadow that touched Sashi. And something else tells me that this shadow is not very nice.”

“What was your first clue, Boone?! We need to figure out who this shadow creature is. They messed with our friend and now it’s personal.”

“Well, we need to bring her home at least. Her parents will be a little spooked, but at least she’ll be home.”

“You’re right, Miss Alice. But how? Won’t it look suspicious that we have an unconscious girl with us?” Boone asked.

“Rip will drive her home, right, Rip?”

“What?! I will not!”

“Vladimir Rippen Van Winkle, if you don’t get your ass in that car and drive this child back to her house, I swear I’ll snap your goddamn neck.”

“Okay, okay, fine. I’ll drive her back home.”

“Yay!” Larry cheered. “Road trip!”

“We’ll meet you there,” Penn assured before he took out his shooter.

“Okay.”

“Where does this girl live anyway?” Rip grumbled after we all got in the car. I let Larry sit in front while I made sure to keep Sashi perched up in the seat next to me. I mean she had a seatbelt on, but her head kept dragging so I had to keep it up.

“145 Maplebury Avenue. It’s the first apartment complex on that street,” Larry quickly answered.

“How do you know that?”

“I am the principal of Middleburg Central High. We have all of the students’ addresses on file for emergency purposes.”

“I thought that was obvious, Rip.”

“Whatever. Let’s just drop her off and get back home.” Her apartment was not that far from HQ, so we got there in record time. Larry had to tell us what number their apartment was, so I dialed the number and had to explain to her mother that she fainted and we wanted to bring her back home safe.

Surprisingly, her mother wasn’t suspicious…actually she was really nice to us. She offered us tea and cookies and thanked us for getting her home safe. Penn and Boone came after we got there, but Rip was in a hurry to go, so we had to leave right after they came.

“Wow. She was very nice despite the fact that we brought her daughter back home unconscious,” I remarked after we got back in the car.

“Oh, yeah. Tia’s a very sweet lady. She makes the best desserts for the PTA meetings.”

“Oh, she was the one that made that really good lemon meringue pie at the Student Teacher Award Ceremony?”

“Yep, that was her.”

“Wow.”

“I saw the shadow too,” Rippen suddenly said after he stopped at a red light.

“I figured you did. I know Larry and I aren’t crazy. We all had a supernatural experience that we weren’t supposed to have.”

“I didn’t want to show weakness around the heroes. Honestly, I’m still terrified.”

“Do you know who the shadow is?” Larry asked.

“I think so. But it’s weird that you two could actually see it.”

“How is it weird?” I asked.

“And who was the shadow?” Larry asked.

“Alice, I lied about what happened the other night. I wasn’t in control of my anger or my shapeshifting abilities.”

“What? You don’t mean…”

“My sister’s back. She was messing with my head and playing with my insecurities and anger. I don’t know if you heard, but that muffled language you heard was me trying to pry her away from me. That’s why I was in my right mind when I came out. I got rid of her…for now. She always comes back though and I guess today was the day.”

“What is that language anyway? You sounded like you were in pain or something.”

“It’s the language of the Circle.”

“What’s the Circle?” Larry curiously asked before me.

“The Circle is a group of demon elders that reside in the Underworld. My mother, Viore, was the sister of the demons’ leader, Lucifer. You see, after my mother ‘died’, Vlurgen gained her powers and abilities. She’s more demon than goblin now. And because of that, she can travel to different dimensions in her unstable shadow form freely and cast spells on the feeblest of minds. What you two saw is her unstable shadow form. She can manipulate minds too, so that’s what she tried to do to me the other night. I don’t know how you and Larry could see her though.”

“I can’t believe that bitch found us. So humans can’t see her unstable form?”

“No, they can’t. That can only mean that…you and Larry aren’t human. I think you two are immortal without even knowing it.”

“What?! That’s crazy,” Larry scoffed.

“Larry’s right. It’s probably just a coincidence.”

“It may be.”

“I really wonder why she went after Sashi though.”

“Yeah, I don’t really know why she went after Sashi either. I thought she would have tried to attack me again.”

“I guess we’ll figure it out eventually.”

“I guess so, Larry,” I assured.


	12. Sashi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Graphic Imagery

There was a woman in the shadows! I saw a woman in the shadows! I’m not crazy. I saw a woman in the shadows. Even in my unconscious state I still saw the whole scenario play out in my psyche again and again. The phenomenon we all felt was weird enough. The ground kept rumbling, the wind got colder and made me shiver. Nothing like this ever happened on missions. I mean nothing like this ever happened. Even Phyllis looked spooked when she found out what happened. Then there was the sensation of a cold, lifeless hand touching my shoulder. The feeling lingered, that unnatural feeling. It almost touched my soul, made me tingle inside and shiver and shake.

As soon as the feeling was noticed though, I started to feel my energy drain. I played it off and helped win the mission, but as soon as we were brought back, I started feeling both lightheaded and dizzy. I didn’t want to worry my friends or Phyllis so I just kept a straight face and pretended like nothing was wrong. Then there was my great fall…

When I fell back, I knew Penn was holding me and everyone was trying to make sure I was okay. I could hear their voices, yet all I saw was the shadow before I closed my eyes. After my eyes were closed, my psyche was just dark and I was in dream limbo since I was aware of what was going on around me, I could hear all of their voices, but I couldn’t open my eyes or get out of my limbo. I couldn’t. No matter how much I tried. Until I saw her shadow again and I wondered…

Who was she? And what did she want with me?

Little did I know, while I was in limbo and lying in my bed, her shadow appeared in my room. The black of her presence covered my entire room and the air became cold again. I felt the rush of cold air and the rumbling under my bed, but I just pulled the covers over me and ignored it. But I hoped she would reappear in my dream so I didn’t have to stay in immense darkness alone. Without knowing, in a split second, she went to her stable form and held me in her arms before placing her hand on my forehead. She started to chant in her native tongue but the sound of it just rattled my ears. Before long, her shadow appeared in my psyche again, but I blinked and the darkness was gone and I found myself in what looked like a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world.

The ground was a sickly purplish-black color, the mountains far out where a sickly greenish-black color, the water even looked uninviting. And then what I assumed was their sun was bright, so bright that I had to shield my eyes. I coughed as I kept walking too. The air was contaminated with debris and unsightly green smog and smoke. I found myself in the middle of what I assumed was civilization, but the businesses and houses looked like they were in disrepair and were worn out. All of the people were wearing cloaks and  
their eyes glew green but they looked like the undead. They all faced me and started chanting,

**_It’s the princess. It’s our princess. Xiomara has returned._ **

I didn’t know why they kept calling me Xiomara, but I kept walking until I could see the palace in the distance. The exterior was dark, black, and just plain spooky. It looked like it was in disrepair as well, although that was all I could see since green smog and fog surrounded its whole infrastructure.

But I needed answers as to why I was taken here in my dream, so I kept on walking. But then, a woman stopped me.

“Xiomara,” she called before she took off the hood of her cloak. “I know who you’re looking for. I can bring you to her.”

“Listen, demon lady, my name is Sashi. I don’t know who this Xiomara is, but I think you got the wrong person. So wake me up, now!”

“I can’t. The shadow beckons you. You must go towards it before you can wake up.”

“Who is this shadow? What does she want with me?”

“I don’t know. I was just asked to bring you to her. She lives in the palace. Follow me.” As we trekked to the palace, more and more people with cloaks were chanting the same words that the first ones I came across were chanting. I got so annoyed, I closed my ears but as soon as I started to enjoy the peace and quiet, the demon lady tapped me and walked me inside of the palace. From what I surveyed, the whole place looked deserted but she still called for the shadow to appear.

An overwhelming wind blew passed us before the black shadow appeared in front of us. I was in awe of the presence in front of us, but as soon as I blinked, her shadow began to disappear and exposed her stable form. She was a demon, no lie. But she looked like an older version of me if I was a demon…which I was certain I was not.

After she finished her metamorphosis, she walked closer to us and stroked my face before stepping back to look at me again. A smile appeared on her face and suddenly, she came back by me and hugged me.

“Oh, Xiomara! My lovely daughter. Oh, how I’ve missed you.”

“My name isn’t Xiomara. You have the wrong girl. What do you want with me? And why do you sound German?”

“What do I want with you? You’re my daughter and I missed you. We’ve been separated for over a hundred years. And what is this German you speak off? Is that some human language?”

“Over a hundred years? Look, crazy, my name is Sashi. I don’t know who this Xiomara is. And I’m only fifteen. There’s no way I’ve been alive for over a hundred years.”

“Oh, you’re quick to anger, stubborn, and headstrong, just like your mother,” she assured before she hugged me again.

“You’re not my mother. What is wrong with you? I’m not your daughter.”

“Yes, you are. You look just like me and you even have the same mark on your neck.”

“What? How did you know about my birthmark?”

“It’s the mark of the Circle. Your father marked you after you were born. You’re a demon, my dear. In fact, you’re the princess of this kingdom.”

“What? No, I’m not a demon. I’m not like you. I’m human.”

“You were taken from me and I guess your memory was wiped in the process, but you are my precious daughter, Xiomara Viore. They were trying to hinder you from your true potential.”

“No. It can’t be. Is everything I know a lie?”

“I’m afraid so. I mean look in the mirror,” she started before she walked me to a grand mirror that just appeared. “We come from the same heart, my dear. Those people aren’t your real parents. I’m your real mother. You ever wondered why your ears were pointed or your nails were abnormally pointy? That comes from your real father and me.”

“So I’m a demon.”

“Yes, but you’re my special little girl. You don’t know how long I wanted to see you again.”

“But you hurt me.”

“I had to take a risk. I did it out of love.”

“Sashi! I don’t know if you’re up, but I made you some tea,” I heard my mother call from outside my subconscious.

“I heard my mom. I need to go back. I need to wake up.”

“Okay, I’ll let you wake up,” she said before she hung her head.

“Thank you for telling me the truth,” I started before I hugged her again. “I didn’t know my whole life was a lie. Will I ever see you again?”

“Xiomara, I will always be with you…but when the time is right, I’ll see you again in the flesh. Until then, I’ll be with you in your psyche.”

“Okay,” I answered before I tried to wake up. And I actually woke up this time. I had the same strange sensation that lingered on my skin from when the shadow touched me, but when I looked around, there was no trace of the shadow anywhere in my room. I stretched and then noticed a tray that had mom’s tea kettle and a tea cup on my desk, but I wondered where mom was. She would usually stay in my room a little while as I slept if I was sick or something, but she wasn’t here. I got up, but something told me to look in the mirror.

My reflection startled me. I didn’t even look like myself. My skin was crimson red, goat horns adorned my head, my multi-colored hair was now forest green and black, my eyes glew green, and my teeth were pointy. But when I looked down at my arms, my skin still looked tan like it usually did. And when I looked back up and I looked like a demon. I was so confused, but I still walked out of my room to find my mother.

I could barely open the door, but when I managed to open it half way, I heard something crack from the force. I looked down and saw my mother’s high heel stuck in the bottom of the door and her ankle was twisted the other way. But that wasn’t the only creepy thing. She was lying face down with her arms spread out both ways and her face looked uneasy, yet dead. I couldn’t even tell if she was breathing and it looked like she had a gash in the back since blood was dripping out of a hole in the back of her blazer. Her other leg was sticking straight up, but even her other ankle was twisted the other way. Then I noticed a red mark on her neck, but I had to push her hair out of the way to see the rest. To  
my surprise, it was the same mark I had on my neck.

I jumped in awe, but before I could push her hair back, my arm started to cramp up as I went forward to pull it back. And when I grabbed my arm back, it stopped. I wanted to test the water again so I put my arm out again but then I saw a black wisp of smoke curl around my arm and tighten. I screamed in pain and jumped back before I noticed a splotch of blood on my hand. It was the same size as the gash on my mother’s back which frightened me, but it got me thinking…

Did I do this to my own mother? Well, she wasn’t my real mother apparently, but she took care of me all of these years. But how could I harm her? I was unconscious. Or did the demon inside of me escape my body and harm her? That just sounded nuts.

The black smoke became thicker and engulfed my form before I looked down and noticed that my arms were crimson red. Was I really becoming a demon? I threw myself down and started to cry into my now long, forest green and black hair before I heard a voice come from nowhere.

“What are you doing?”

“What? Who said that? Is that you, mother?”

“You’re better than these worthless humans! Stop crying over this human woman! You’re a demon, for wickedness sake.”

“What?”

“She’s nothing to you! Humans are horrible creatures. Don’t you know that? Everyone you know has lied to you. Humans are the vain of the multiverse. You’re better than them. Don’t cry for her. She’s done nothing but lie to you!”

“My mother didn’t know…”

“She’s not your mother! She’s just a stupid human! None of these people are your family! I’m your family! You are me and I am you.” As soon as she said that, the room started to shake, the lights flickered on and off, and the air became colder. After I blinked, I saw red X’s dripping over all of the family pictures on the wall of the hallway and from the looks of it; the red wasn’t paint but blood. After my observation, she finished her point,

“We’re one in the same, Xiomara. Don’t you see that?!”

“I’m not human. I see that now.”

“Don’t be discouraged, my daughter. You were made for greatness. You have a destiny.”

“And what is my destiny?”

“You’ll find out eventually.”

“Did you do this to my mother?”

“Look at your hand and answer your own question. I don’t care enough to do away with this lie of a family you have here.”

“But I was asleep…”

“Sashi! We’re home!” my dad called out from the living room.

“Where is she?” my brother asked before they both walked into the living room. I heard them coming, but I stayed in the same position I was in before my brother screamed,

“I found her, dad! Sashi, what’s wrong with you?”

“Yeah, Sashi, what’s wrong?” dad asked after him.

“I hurt mom. I don’t know how, but I hurt mom,” I whined. “I’m a monster. Stay back.”

“What? Your mother is sitting in her chair knitting another scarf.”

“Wait, what? She’s not…”

“Yeah, she is. She greeted us as soon as we walked in,” my brother added.

“Huh?”

“Sashi, were you playing those scary video games with your friends again? You know they scare you.”

“No, dad, I haven’t. I don’t know what came over me.”

“Well, that’s alright, sweetie. Your mother already had dinner ready, so let’s eat.”

“Okay,” I moaned before I walked in the kitchen with them. Although I wondered why mom forgot to tell them that I was unconscious when I came back home, I tried to repress the memory of what I thought was my reality. I didn’t want to remember what happened today. I wanted to forget everything that happened. But I still couldn’t help but wonder,

**_Would the shadow come back? Would she try to harm my ‘family’? And why was I hallucinating my mother’s death?_ **


	13. Duchess Jennae Flashe

I really wondered what the hell was wrong with Dark Empress Vlurgen. I really wondered. She was making her daughter go insane. And for what? Did she forget her daughter is human now? I had no idea how this had anything to do with bringing her back home. What did the Wicked Witch of the West actually have planned? And why did I have to help her? And since when was Lady Montague and her friends? Something was up with Lady Montague too. I feel like I barely know the woman actually…

After the Wicked Witch left her daughter’s host family’s house, she met me back at our hiding place in an old abandoned warehouse a block from where she knew Myrtah and Mortice were ‘hiding’. It wasn’t my cup of tea since the place smelled like raw sewage and the scenery was graffiti and old rusted pipes dangling from the ceilings and rotted walls that once held them up. But after she was done invading her daughter’s psyche, she forced me to go back to our new HQ before she came back. When she came back, the door slammed and the ground started to rumble under my feet. She looked very pleased with herself since she was smiling and I don’t anyone in the Vitruvian galaxy every saw her  
smile. But it was a menacing smile, nonetheless. I was reading an old newspaper I found on the ground on my way back here, but when she saw I was paying her no mind, she snatched the paper out of my hand and crumpled it up before throwing it.

“Hey! I was reading that!”

“Shut up, worm! Get up! We’re going to take a walk.”

“A walk? You don’t like Earth and you sure as hell don’t like humans. And you shake the ground every time you go somewhere.”

“You idiot! We’ll be disguised. My power will be controlled then. Now get up!” she barked.

“Fine. Now, how should I look?”

“Like I give a fuck. Just disguise yourself.”

“Okay, pushy,” I teased before I shapeshifted into a desirable human form. I gave myself long pink textured hair, African-American features, freckles, and caramel colored skin to top it off. I also decided on a sports bra with a vest and short shorts with ankle high boots for my ensemble. The Wicked Witch just rolled her eyes and transformed into a white teenager with jet black hair (and forest green highlights) and glowing green eyes. She had red lipstick on and was wearing a black tank top with a black, lace skirt and black boots that covered up some of her fishnet stockings. Then she had a beanie on her head too.

“Wow. You look like a goth,” I teased.

“Shut up! Now let’s go!”

“You might want to change your voice. You sound like a bitter old woman still.”

“What was that?! I love my voice. Now, not another word from you. Let’s go!”

“Okay, bossy,” I moaned.

I was really scared for any human that spared a passing glance at us. I mean, I didn’t really like humans, but I didn’t want to eradicate their whole species either. They were out of my hair back in Naaru, so I didn’t really give a damn. But the Wicked Witch had an unhealthy hatred of humans and since she was both crazy and unstable, it would not shock me if she killed any staring human for sport. She just didn’t give a fuck like that. I kept my guard up though as we kept walking. She seemed to stop when we walked down what looked like an abandoned street. I didn’t know why though.

“Well, well, well, look what we have here.”

“It just looks like an abandoned movie theater and restaurant.”

“Yes, that’s what it looks like…but this is Myrtah and Mortice’s hiding spot. Myrtah is in the movie theater and Mortice is in the restaurant.”

“Oh, so that’s why you made our HQ that old, moldy, and abandoned warehouse down the block?”

“Yes, see you’re learning, Jennae. You might not be a lost cause after all.”

“What are you going to do then? Just stand there in awe?”

“No, no. I just want to visit an old friend.” I didn’t know what she meant, but next thing I knew she was walking into the restaurant and dragging me behind her. There was no one in there, but she just told me to sit down before she found a glass bottle on the ground and bashed it against the countertop. As soon as she did that, an old Asian guy ran out and just gave us both this glare before he asked what we were doing there. The Wicked Witch just smiled and said,

“Now Mortice, watch how you talk to your queen.”

“Vlurgen?” he asked with a shocked look on his face.

“In the flesh,” she cooed before she went back to her true form. “Long time no see. I see my stupid brother is no help to our cause.”

“He is pathetic part-time villain, but what you doing here?”

“I had to tend to some business. But I wanted to see my greatest follower again.”

“I’m honored,” he said before he bowed down.

“Now, now, Mortice. We’re friends. Stand up straight.”

“Are you planning to do away with my half-sister?” he asked after he stood up.

“No, no. Not right now, anyway. I have bigger fish to fry. But her new accomplices are a strong group of fifteen year olds, huh?”

“I guess you can say that.”

“So who’s the new girl?”

“You mean Alice?”

“Yeah, the perky little black girl. What’s up with her?”

“She married brother about a year ago. Sweet girl. She basically female version of cousin.”

“Her cousin being the worthless henchman?”

“Yes.”

“I see. How young is this girl?”

“24, I think.”

“A 24 year old human girl was that infatuated with my brother? He’s centuries older than her. What is there to like about him?”

“Glad someone took him. He used to be headache before he met her.”

“So he used to be miserable?”

“Yes. Alice is whole world to him. I not know what he do if something happen to her.”

“I see. Is there anything else going on here I should know about?”

“Oh, yes. You aunt now.”

“I’m an aunt? I have a niece or nephew?”

“Two nieces. They twins.”

“Twins, you say? Well, what are their names?”

“Phoenix and Gryffin. Ooh, I have picture,” he chirped before he handed her a wallet sized picture of their family.

“Oh, they’re cute babies. They look like a happy family.”

“Yes, they are. Alice is hosting christening for them later this week.”

“A christening, you say? Interesting. Well, it was nice catching up with you, Mortice.”

“Same to you, my queen.”

“Ah, you were always good with flattery. Well, minion, let’s be on our way.”

“I’m not your minion.”

“You don’t get to talk back to me in front of my friend. Now I said let’s be on our way!” she demanded before she dragged me out. She almost forgot to disguise herself again too, before I reminded her. But I really wanted to know why we even wasted eleven minutes to play 20 questions with him.

“What was that about?”

“It’s none of your concern. Minions don’t get to speak their minds.”

“You’re planning on crashing your nieces’ christening, huh?”

“Wow, you are catching on, Jennae. You are smarter than you look.”

“Thank you, I think. But what about your daughter?”

“What about her?”

“Why are you making her go insane? You made her think she killed her mother.”

“Tia Kobayashi is not her mother!” she screamed before she stomped her foot down which made the whole sidewalk break in two. “I’m her mother. And I did not make her go insane. I’m stripping her of her human frailty.”

“By making her go insane. And when are you planning on bringing her back home?”

“You ask too many questions, Jennae. Just enjoy this evil ride. Xiomara will come back when it is her time. Until then, she’ll be a living nightmare to every human that comes in contact with her especially that stupid red-headed boy that’s so in love with her. But now it’s my brother’s turn.”


	14. Rippen

There were two things that I wondered. Firstly, why the hell did I let Alice go on another mission when she was supposed to be resting at home and secondly, why did Vlurgen not go after me while we were on that mission? She attacked me the night before, why would the mission be any different? And of all people, why Sashi? Why would she go after her?

After that mission, I had even more nightmares and I could barely sleep. Vlurgen didn’t try to attack me once, but I still worried she would come back and try to mess with my head. And then what about Alice? She was the source of my happiness, so I knew she would do everything in her power to get rid of her.

And every time I would wake up from a nightmare, I would look over to make sure that Alice was alright. She would always be sleeping on her side of the bed, softly snoring and I would kiss her cheek and try to fall back to sleep. Of course, I never really did get enough sleep still and I would wake up with bags over the bags under my eyes. Actually, I’ve been so sleep deprived that whenever Gryffin did wake up in the middle of the night (she’s been sleeping better throughout the night though), Alice would tell me to just stay in bed while she tried to calm her down. I told her that I didn’t mind though and she knew I didn’t really need sleep, although it seemed like I did on the outside. But she wouldn’t  
listen.

And I knew my paranoia was bothering her. She would never say it, but I knew it was. I felt bad that it was holding me back from being a good father, a loving husband, and not to mention a worthy villain. But Alice, being the loving and doting wife she was, always assured me that everything was going to be okay.

The next morning, though, I woke up and she wasn’t in bed beside me. I figured she was tending to the twins, so I just got dressed and ready for another horrible day at the school. Honestly, I missed having her as my student teacher too. She just made my terrible job feel better and more satisfying. But anyway, I caught a faint smell of pancakes after I finished my routine. I went to the kitchen to find her slaving over a hot stove while she had the twins playing in their playpen in the living room. I guess she put it on one of the little cartoons she liked too to keep them occupied. She looked tired too. She was still in her nightgown and robe and her afro wasn’t as tamed as it usually was. And she kept on yawning. Honestly, I felt bad for her. My wife was a human, as in a creature that needs sleep.

I felt bad for making her do all of the work because I was so paranoid.

“Good morning, Alice,” I whispered.

“Good morning, Rip,” she answered back with a slight smile on her face.

“I’m sorry for…” But before I could finish what I was saying, she threw her arms around my neck and started kissing me.

“Don’t you apologize any more. It’s fine. They’re my daughters too.”

“But they’re more like me than you. It’s wrong for me to make you do everything.”

“Rippen, you’re not. You’re working still. You need your rest. I’ll be fine. Besides, Anastasia’s going to help me. I already called her.”

“You need to get some rest too though. You’re human.”

“I know, Rip. I will. Don’t worry about me. I made you some coffee and pancakes.”

“Thank you, Alice,” I said before I kissed her cheek and went to sit down at the bar counter to eat my breakfast.

“You’re welcome. Oh, and I almost forgot the syrup,” she chirped before she poured it out in the shape of a heart. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” After I was done eating, I grabbed my bag and went to kiss my daughters goodbye before Alice stopped me by the front door.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to kiss my beautiful wife goodbye.”

“Yeah, you almost did,” she giggled before she pulled my face closer to hers and kissed me.

“Have a good day at work, knucklehead.”

“I’ll try. And I’ll make up for the last few days.”

“What? You said we can’t have sex.”

“I already cheated before, why not just do it again?”

“You only let me go on that mission because you trust Anastasia now, huh?”

“I guess you can say that. Gryffin really likes her, so I don’t have to worry about her acting up because she misses me.”

“I understand. You’re a good father and an amazing husband. And I love you.”

“I love you too,” I said before I hugged her.

“We’re going to be okay, knucklehead. I promise.”

“I know. I really miss having you in class.”

“I miss being there too. Well, you better be on your way. You know Larry’s waiting for you to pick him up. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay,” I said before I left.

After I picked up Larry, I felt like my mind was clear of paranoia but I still couldn’t help but worry about Alice. I mean she was only 24 and if Vlurgen came back and killed her, well I would have an innocent, young human woman’s blood on my hands. I couldn’t risk that either. I just couldn’t. Of course, Larry was rambling about something like usual; but I had so much going on in the back of my mind I wasn’t even paying attention. I guess, in a way, I was lucky. But then my car started to make a funny noise and it started to shake. Larry looked scared but I knew what the problem was. It was just my sister picking at me again.

“Vladie, Vladie,” she called before she started speaking in our native tongue. “I see you left your wife alone again.”

“She’s resting,” I answered back in our native tongue.

“Oh, I know. It would just be a shame if something happened to her.”

“Don’t you dare lay a finger on her.”

“You don’t control me, brother. You fear me. You’re weak. Alice is the whole world to you, is she not?”

“Leave her alone. She’s innocent. If you want to make me miserable, do it but don’t hurt her.”

“Alice is the source of your happiness. The only way to make you miserable is to get rid of her. Which I will. And you won’t be able to stop me, brother,” she insisted before she started to cackle.

“No! No! No!” I screamed before Larry tapped me.

“Rippen, are you okay? What happened and who were you talking to? And we’ve been at this green light for the past four minutes.”

“Alright, alright. I get it. I’m moving,” I huffed after I heard people honk at me. Then I took my turn on that street. “I’m fine, Larry. It was nothing.”

“Are you sure you’re not worried about your sister hurting Alice?”

“What? How do you know about that?”

“Alice told me. She’s really worried about you. Are you getting enough sleep?”

“Larry, I’m fine. You don’t have to be worried about me.”

“Okay,” he moaned.

After I pulled into my usual parking spot, I told him I was going to stay behind a little while to think everything over. He actually didn’t question me, just walked out and closed the door behind him. Once I saw he was out of my sight range, I picked up my phone and dialed Alice’s number. I knew she told me not to worry, but I was still worrying. And I had to make sure Vlurgen didn’t get to her.

“Hello, knucklehead,” she answered.

“Hey, Alice. Is everything alright over there?” I asked with shakiness in my voice.

“Knucklehead, we’re fine. I told you not to worry about us. Anastasia just came over. She was telling me about her life in St. Petersburg.”

“Hey Rippen!” I heard her say in the background.

“Hey Anastasia. Are the girls awake?”

“Well, Gryffin is. Phoenix went back to sleep after her bath and feeding. Stasia is teaching her paddy cake.”

“Oh, okay. I hear her giggling now.”

“But yeah, we’re fine. Now you need to go to work. We’re fine. I promise. And be nicer to the kids for me. I love you.”

“We’ll see. I love you too, Alice. Bye.”

“Bye.” I was still worried, but Alice was right. I had to just forget about it for the next 8 hours. And that wouldn’t be too hard, now would it?

 

My last class was my least favorite class, but you could probably guess why. Considering the fact that I had to deal with my worst enemies as well as some other undesirable students, I really missed having Alice here with me. Apparently, since she was closer to their age, she could speak their language and understand them. I guess it was because she was a human too. I couldn’t really understand humans either, no matter how old they were. But today was a little less conventional- as in my sister decided to mess with me again.

I was just making my rounds looking at their work with disgust before I heard ruffling and shaking in the back of the room. Everyone looked concerned but Penn was the one that wanted to investigate. And being as curious as I was sometimes, I decided to follow him. I had a veil put up against that wall because it was where I would escape from those horrible children to mostly vent on a blank canvas but when Penn pulled it back, we saw Sashi rocking back and forth with her arms around her legs like she was possessed. And she looked like she was in a blank stare since she didn’t blink once.

And for some reason, it sounded like she was whispering chants in my native tongue.

“Sash. Sash. Are you okay?” he asked before he reached out to touch her.

“Don’t touch me!” she screamed before she hit his hand. “I don’t know you.”

“What are you talking about? I’m your boyfriend. You don’t remember?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“What? You don’t remember me. I’m Penn, remember? We’re friends, we work together, we’re in the same classes…You’re always calling me stupid…”

“Penn?”

“Now you remember? It’s okay,” he assured before he hugged her. I actually wanted to see her hurt him, but instead I guess she got back to her senses, and she hugged him back and started to cry in his arms. But it was so weird to me. She never snapped at me like she usually did and I had never seen her that vulnerable ever. I mean I had seen her cry before, but never like this.

“Hey, why did it get cold in here all of a sudden?” I heard a student ask.

“And why does it seem like the ground is shaking?” another asked.

“What’s with all of this commotion?” I asked after I left the scene.

“Mr. Rippen, can you not feel this?” Matilda asked.

“It doesn’t matter whether I can or not. Now get back to work!”

“Can’t show weakness to the humans, brother? Are you going to respond or are you afraid they’re going to judge you?”

“Go away,” I huffed under my breath before I walked back to my own desk.

“Oh, why would I do that? I like the chaos. This is fun.”

“You’re annoying. Just go away. My job is bad enough.”

“You’re afraid, aren’t you? Are you worried about your enemy? You hate her, yet you’re worried about her? You’ll never be a convincing villain. You care too much. And you’re weak.”

“I’m not weak. Leave now!”

“You can’t get rid of me. I’m everywhere, brother. You think just by threatening me, I’ll disappear? I don’t work that way.”

“I can see that. But I guess misery loves company.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked before I saw her shadow form in front of me.

“You’re miserable and that’s why you want my misery. You are never happy unless I’m miserable. That’s why you want to get rid of Alice. Well, you’re right, sister. Alice is my whole world. I love her dearly and I guess I can’t stop you from doing what you want. I’m not afraid anymore. Do your worse. Maybe I’m better off being alone and unloved. But Alice doesn’t deserve to suffer. The only thing she’s ever done wrong was love me.”

“These humans have changed you, Vladie. But your nobleness makes me sick. I’ll just have to create chaos somewhere else in this sickeningly happy town. Ta ta.”

I knew Vlurgen was fully aware that I was still worried and afraid, but standing up to her was nice in a way though. After she left, the bell rang so I practically rushed Larry so I could get home. It was my day off too, so I really couldn’t wait to see Alice again and hold her in my arms. But I wanted to do something nice for her, so I stopped by the local drugstore to pick up a few things.

When I walked in, Anastasia was channel flipping but there was no sign of Alice or the twins. Anastasia finally looked up and when she noticed me, she smiled and waved.

“Hey Rippen. How was work?”

“It was. Where’s Alice?”

“Oh, she’s taking a nap. After we put the girls to sleep for their afternoon nap, I told her to take a nap. She was really tired. I assured her I could look after them by myself like I did the other two nights, but she didn’t want to rest. She’s a good mom though. My mom was the same way, when she still lived with father and me.”

“I would have never guessed,” I moaned before I scratched the back of my head. It honestly was weird learning that not only was Phyllis a mother but she was also a descent mother for the most part.

“Alice is a stubborn little thing though. I know that. But thank you. Here’s your daily wage,” I said before I handed her an envelope out of my bag.

“Thanks. Tell them I said bye.”

“I will. See you, Stasia.”

“Bye. See you later, Rippen.”

After she left, I went to our room and found Alice sound asleep on her side of the bed. She was softly snoring like usual, but she looked like an angel as she slept. The sun also seemed to radiate off of her skin in a heavenly glow. But she was a beauty to behold. I knew that. I went by her side and rubbed her arm before I said,

“Sweet dreams, my darling Alice.”

I kissed her cheek and pulled the covers over her more before I walked to the twins’ room. They were both sound asleep too, so I also kissed their cheeks before I turned off the light and closed the door behind me. I retired in the living room after that and started flipping the channels to see if I could find a descent movie or informative documentary on. I couldn’t, so I turned it off and found one of Alice’s mangas lying on the ground. I never read one before, but it looked promising. So I started to read it…except, I didn’t really know how to read it. It took me a minute, but then I got the hang of it. I was so into the plot, however, that I didn’t even realize Alice was awake and was standing behind me now.

“Rip, what are you reading?” she asked.

“Oh, Alice. I didn’t know you were up.”

“So, no, hello my darling Alice?” she asked mocking my accent.

“I don’t sound like that,” I huffed.

“I know. I’m just messing with you, knucklehead. So you’re reading my manga now?”

“I was bored and there’s nothing on TV.”

“Well, move over,” she commanded before I moved and she sat by me. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” I assured before I kissed her and cuddled her closer to me.

“So how was work?”

“It was. It was much easier teaching those monsters with you around.”

“Oh, Rip, don’t be like that. They’re teenagers. You were one too at one time.”

“Unfortunately. But I got you something.”

“You got me something? You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to,” I moaned before I got the huge brown bag from the chair I left it on. “Here you go. See what’s inside.”

“This better not be a box of condoms or lubricants or some sex toys.”

“No, it’s not. We still have plenty of those things. Just look.”

“Okay,” she moaned before she pulled out the giant panda bear with a box of chocolates attached to its arms.

“A giant panda bear?! Aww, Rip, this is so sweet. And you got the expensive chocolate. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to. I picked up some pinot grigio too…”

“Wow, you really can’t wait to get in my pants again. We’re toasting to having sex again?”

“Sure, let’s go with that, Alice. But there’s a card at the bottom.”

“Oh, now I see it. It must have fallen,” she assured before she picked it up. Once she opened it, I saw the brightest smile appear on her face before she started to giggle.

“I love you beary much…this is so silly…but cute. And is that Ice Bear behind you?”

“Yeah. You’re always watching that silly little show and I take it Ice Bear is your favorite. What is it called again? We the Bears or something?”

“It’s We Bare Bears. And yes, he’s my favorite because he reminds me of you.”

“Because he’s cynical and sarcastic?”

“Yeah. But he also cares, like you. And I can’t believe you actually took the time to draw yourself like an anime character. I thought you hated that art form.”

“I do. But my love for you is stronger than my pride.”

“Well, it’s fitting. You do have cool anime hair.”

“Don’t say that,” I scoffed.

“Oh, knucklehead, I love your hair,” she assured before she rustled my hair. “It’s menacing and super sexy.”

“I like your hair too. It’s soft and plush like a pillow.”

“I’ve never heard anyone say that about an afro. But thank you. All of this was a really sweet gesture.”

“You didn’t even read the inside.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she moaned before she began to blush and giggle. I mean I knew I was being pushy, but I poured my heart out in that card and I really wanted to hammer down how I felt about her. I really wanted her to know that my feelings for her were permanent.

_My darling Alice,_

_Words can’t truly explain how much you mean to me. But I’ll try to put it in the best words that I can. I remember when you were still a happy and energetic little girl. You always brought joy to me whenever you would come for the summers and honestly, I would try to hold back my own tears when you would hug me goodbye and cry when you had to go back home. Truth be told, you were the only human child I liked being around…and it was fun coloring and drawing with you as well as playing hide and seek and reading you bedtime stories every night. I thought I would repeat the cycle every summer after the cycle started but to my dismay, your dear mother died soon after you left the summer after your eighth birthday. Every summer after that, I hoped you would come back…but you never did. Fourteen years passed and I still remember how excited I was to see you again. Honestly, I was in shock when I saw how much you grew since the last time I saw you. You grew to be such a beautiful and elegant young woman and I couldn’t help but feel proud of you when I learned of everything you did and accomplished during those lost fourteen years. But I think I was the most excited when I learned you were going to be my student teacher. That was probably the most fun I ever had at my job and the best semester as well. And I loved learning more about you. I was always riveted by your stories and it made me realize just how wonderful you really were. But I think the turning point of our relationship was at the school dance we all chaperoned. You looked so beautiful in your white dress and my breath was taken away at the sight of you. But then I learned about an event that shook your soul and I wanted to comfort you but little did I know I would learn that you loved me as much as I loved you and we would share our first kiss. That kiss set my whole world a blaze and when I looked at you, I already knew you that you were the one I was destined to be with. The casual dating was nice too. I liked holding your hand and showering you with kisses and hugs…and I stayed willing to take things slow. But one assignment took our relationship to the next level, a level we both weren’t really prepared for. I knew how afraid you were about the whole endeavor and I wanted to make you feel comfortable…yet, I ended up making sweet love to you that fateful night. Our hearts and our souls became one that night, and I promised my love and protection for you. You glew like the morning sun, but I didn’t see that you were the light in the deep dark abyss I call a heart. Separation made our hearts grow fonder and I let you know that although I loved you, I wanted what was best for you even if that meant we couldn’t be together. I guess fate and love finds a way though because you came back to me. I still remember our wedding day. I shed a couple of tears seeing you walk down the aisle and when I looked into your eyes, the sparkle in them set my heart on fire. A sweet kiss sealed our vows and I couldn’t help but smile because now you were my wife, my lover, my best friend, and the future mother of my children. And you’re a very loving and doting mother to our daughters. I can’t believe you went through a traditional Vitruvian pregnancy just so I could have children. You didn’t have to do that for me…sorry, I’m starting to cry now writing this. I’m such a happy and proud father and husband and I don’t know what I did to deserve you. Anyway, I know this is long winded, but I really just wanted you to know how I feel. Every day I spend with you is a treasure, Alice and I would never have it any other way. You’re my everything and you’re my world…my universe…actually, my heart and soul. I love you so much and I promise to protect and please you until death do us part…_

_Your knuckleheaded husband, Rippy_

“Oh, Rippen, this is the sweetest, most thoughtful gift I ever received. You are so sweet,” she cooed before she rustled my hair. “I love you so much. You’re the best husband ever.”

“You’re welcome. I wanted you to really know how I feel.”

“I already knew all of this. I know your heart. You’re such a sweetheart,” she giggled before she kissed me.

“I know. I just like to tell you often.”

“Well, thank you. This really made my day. Are you sure nothing’s on TV?”

“No, there’s nothing…not even your little show.”

“Oh, well there is a movie I saved on the DVR. We could watch that.”

“What is it about?”

“It’s a recent mystery noir movie. I figured you would like it.”

“Well, yeah, but do you mind?”

“No, I don’t. I just wanted to spend time with you…alone…while the twins are asleep,” she cooed before she flicked my goatee and smiled at me.

“I don’t mind that at all. Well, put it on.”

“Okay, knucklehead.”

 

To my surprise, Gryffin actually stayed asleep during the whole two-hour duration of the movie. But Alice did not stay awake. Within an hour, she fell asleep leaning against my chest. I just giggled and laid her down on the sofa before putting a sheet over her. I still couldn’t believe how beautiful my wife was when she was asleep, and I couldn’t help but look at her before I came up with a great idea to surprise her. I took the pinot grigio, two wine glasses, and a bouquet of roses I hid in the cabinet to our room and placed the wine and glasses on my nightstand before ripping the rose petals off its stem and throwing them on the bed. After that, I left a note for her by the wine and left her a text on her phone.  
Five minutes passed and I finally heard her get up. She sounded like she was wondering where I was, but I just stayed waiting in our bathroom. And then I heard her…

“Rippen! Rippen! Where are you? You better not be trying to scare me.”

I didn’t answer her, but I heard her walking into our room.

“Rippen? Seriously, where are you? This isn’t funny…wait, what’s this…Alice, here’s a glass of wine, take it and enjoy the show…love, Rippen…what? What show? Is We Bare Bears on now?!”

“No, it’s a better show.”

“Rippen? Are you hiding in the shower?”

“No, no. Don’t come closer. Just sit down on the bed and relax. This is going to be fun.”

“Okay, whatever…wait, why are there rose petals on the bed? Wait, are you doing what I think you’re doing?”

“You ask too many questions, Alice,” I cooed before I walked out with my shirt half unbuttoned.

“Just enjoy the show.”

“Ooh, I’m getting a strip tease?”

I didn’t answer her, instead I just unbuttoned the rest of my shirt slowly before I threw it off.

“Well, don’t have any use for this thing anymore.”

“Ooh…you’re so sexy…”

“I know,” I moaned before I threw off my tie which she caught.

“Umm,” she sighed. “You’re wearing the cologne I like.”

“Of course.” I answered before I started to walk away.

“Wait, where are you going? You’re making me hot.”

“I have something else in store for you.”

“Okay. Don’t keep me waiting though.” When I walked back in, she was sitting up and smiling bright like a happy little schoolgirl, but she did look a little confused.

“Why are you wearing your robe?”

“Don’t laugh when I take this off.”

“Why would I laugh? We’ve had sex before. I don’t care about your ‘problem’. I love your jolly rancher.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just something that I like now…it’s not a weird fetish though.”

“Okay. Just take it off. I’m anxious and I’m getting really horny now.”

“Okay,” I moaned before I took it off. She didn’t laugh, thankfully, but she did have a bright smile on her face.

“Oh, Rippen…you’re really working that corset. It fits your personality. Dark, brooding, and sexy.”

“You don’t think it’s weird?”

“No. You like what you like. Funny you would have that, because I have my own,” she assured before she threw off her nightgown. “I like black ones too.”

“Wow. I think you just took my breath away.”

“It fit better before the twins were born, but I guess it still works.”

“Wait, how long have you had that?”

“Since my 22nd birthday. Gia and I bought some. My dad doesn’t know though.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Alright, sexy, I’m ready for the main event.”

“I was hoping you would say that,” I cooed before I met her on our bed. She giggled and pulled me closer to her form before I started to kiss her. Her hands moved from my neck to my hair and I held onto her back, clinched tightly to my own body. Her soft moans of pleasure were music to my ears and looking into her eyes after we broke from our kiss, set my heart on fire. She guided my hands to the back of her lingerie and I started to untie it before she pulled it off and exposed her breasts. I just smiled at her, before I bent down and started sucking on her breasts. She giggled and playfully started trying to push me from her.

“Oh, Rip! Oh! You keep sucking like that and there won’t be any more milk for the girls.”

After I was done, I popped my head back up and smiled at her, her lactation all over my face, but she just smiled and giggled before she kissed me again. Our lips parted and I moved further down passed the curves of her body before she helped me take her lingerie completely off. I guess she was anxious for what was about to happen, because she pushed my head closer to her cooch before I started to give her oral. After that, I sat up and started taking off my corset. She sat up too and just watched in anticipation.

“Are you ready for some sweet love making?” I teased.

“Yes,” she chirped.

A slight smile appeared on my face before I disappeared and reappeared towering over her delicate form. She looked annoyed, but before she could retort something, I kissed her. And her reactions were also a little surprising to me. Instead of her usual moaning and groaning along with her simultaneous screaming of my name, she started giggling as soon as I took her. I mean I knew she was enjoying this, but it was just out of the ordinary for her. But she did eventually start screaming my name after I started kissing and licking her lovers’ mark.

After two glorious rounds of sex, I just held her in my arms and kept placing kisses on her neck and soft lips. But I did have to ask her why she was acting so differently.

“Why were you laughing?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Rip. I was just excited. I missed having sex…I missed having such a beautiful, intimate moment with you. Maybe I’m just an addict, but I feel at one with you when you’re making sweet love to me.”

“It’s fine. I was just wondering. I love the intimacy we share too. I’m just glad you didn’t laugh at me.”

“Why would I laugh at you? I’m not like other humans. You like what you like and it really works for you. So what got you into wearing corsets?”

“I rather not tell the story.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll just call Larry. He probably knows the story.”

“He does…fine, I’ll tell you,” I moaned before I handed her one of my scrapbooks.

“You were going to explain? Why are you handing me this?”

“Just look at the second page. It’ll all make sense.”

“Okay,” she sighed. As soon as she said that, she started smiling and had to hold her mouth as she started giggling. “Oh my gosh! Did he put you up to that?!”

“Yeah,” I groaned before she looked at me and jumped.

“Vladimir Rippen Van Winkle! You made me jump!”

“What do you mean?”

“You shapeshifted to look just like this…down to the corset. What, did you steal it before you zapped back?”

“Maybe…or maybe I’m just that good,” I teased before I kissed her cheek.

“Change back.”

“I thought you liked me like this.”

“I do…but I liked your little bun. It works for you.”

“Fine,” I moaned before I disappeared and reappeared again. “Better?”

“Better,” she said before she elbowed me in the gut.

“Ow.”

“That didn’t hurt.”

“I know it didn’t. I’m just teasing.”

“You’re full of jokes aren’t you?”

“That’s because I love you and I know you love me regardless.”

“I do love you, knucklehead. Don’t let go of me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Alice. I love you too.”

 

She soon fell back asleep in my arms, and I soon fell asleep too before I felt a sharp shooting pain on my chest. I woke up and noticed Alice was clawing me with her nails and it sounded like she was chanting in the language of the Circle in her sleep. So I knew what that meant.

“Alice, Alice,” I whispered. “Baby, you’re starting to hurt me.”

“Wow. You’re getting weak from a little clawing from a human.”

“Go away. You aren’t allowed in my home.”

“Oh, I understand. You have the retinal scanner, the fingerprint scanner, and the keypad…but in case you haven’t noticed, I come and go as I please. I’m not a human, brother.”

“I know,” I grumbled. “Just go away. I’m spending time with my wife.”

“Oh, I know. How sweet. She’s having quite the nightmare though. Maybe it’s a glimpse into the future? Maybe she knows she’s about to die. Maybe…”

“Don’t you dare mess with her head. She has done nothing to you.”

“So, you never did anything to me and I hate you with every fiber of my being. Actually, I think it’s how noble you are that makes me sick. You aren’t much better than dear auntie.”

“You leave Olga out of this. I’m better than her.”

“Sure, you are, Vladie. You keep telling yourself that. You’re weak…you’ll always be weak. Might as well give your daughters a better chance to be convincing villains.”

“Stay away from my daughters. As far as you’re concerned, my daughters have no paternal aunt.”

“But what fun would that be? Why hold your daughters back by only having them know their mother’s goody-two-shoes family? Aren’t they going to be confused? Alice is friends with your enemies.”

“It doesn’t…just go away. I don’t need you here.”

“Fine. But I’ll be back, dear brother. Cherish every moment you have with precious Alice, her days are numbered and soon her breath will be snatched from her body. Ta ta.”

“Rip, I…I…I’m scared,” Alice whispered after Vlurgen disappeared.

“What? Why are you scared?”

“I had a bad dream. Am I going to die?”

“No, no…it was just a dream. I’ll protect you. I promise I’ll protect you.”

“I’m really scared though. That was such a vivid…” Before she could finish, I pulled her closer to me and kissed her.

“Alice, for as long as I live, I will protect you. I won’t let anything happen to you. Do you believe me?”

“Of course,” she sighed before she looked down.

“Alice, look at me. I made a promise to you after we started dating, did I not?”

“You did. I still have the promise ring you gave me.”

“And what was that promise?”

“That you would always protect me and keep me from harm.”

“Exactly. The only time I would ever consider being a hero is if something ever happened to you or our daughters. You all mean the world to me and I want to keep all of you safe.”

“You would risk your reputation for me?”

“Yes, I would. I actually made a promise to your mother too.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I actually I kept the letters she gave me. I think your mother was fully aware that her days were numbered that fateful summer. It’s somewhere in my drawers though. I have to find it…”

“Just tell me then.”

“I just promised to look after you. I didn’t realize how much your father hated me though and I didn’t account for fourteen lost years, but…”

“It doesn’t matter. That’s the past. You’re protecting me now, so it all worked out. I think it was worth the fourteen year wait actually. So much changed, but I like the change.”

“It was worth the fourteen year wait. You are such a beautiful young woman, Alice…inside and out. I’m so proud to call you my wife.”

“Stop spoiling me,” she teased.

“I never will. I don’t think it’s wrong for a man to spoil their wife.”

“It’s not,” she giggled. “I love you, knucklehead. But I think Gryffin needs you right now.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Your ears are shaking.”

“Oh, they sure are. I didn’t even notice. I’ll be back,” I assured before I hurried to put my clothes back on. I looked back at her again, though, before I left and she was still giggling and then she wrapped herself up under the covers before she pretended to go to sleep. I just smiled and laughed a little to myself before I finally went to tend to Gryffin. But little did she know, I meant every word I said…down to the part of even considering switching sides…


	15. Alice

To my surprise, after the day we had sex again, Rippen actually started to act normal again. He totally forgot about his sister and he actually started being a loving husband and father again. Honestly, I felt like I was falling in love with him all over again. And he always had a romantic gesture once he would come back from work whether it was flowers or chocolates or cute little stuffed animals holding balloons and he would always have an illustrated card to go with it.

Eventually, I was collecting his illustrated cards and every stuffed animal he gave me. But I didn’t mind. I knew his heart was in the right place. As for the twins, he started buying educational and fun toys for them and he would play with them in their nursery. I would usually join in too, but I liked to watch him interact with them while I would sit in the rocking chair. Both of them were really smart for their age though. They both learned how to sit themselves up after they were done crawling to where they wanted to go and they both would clap their hands to show they were excited. Both were also babbling to talk and their bottom teeth started to grow in so they were chewing on everything they  
could grasp in their pointy little fingers.

They were almost a month old too and it was tradition in my family to have the baby christened after they turn a month old. But I had no idea how to plan a christening..until Stasia came to the rescue. It was a rainy Monday morning and after I saw Rippen off for work, Stasia arrived to help me with the twins at 9:00 and while they were pre-occupied watching We Bare Bears in their play pen, I started talking about it to her.

“What is this show, Miss Alice? You always have this on for the twins.”

“It’s called We Bare Bears. I like it a lot.”

“I see why. It’s funny and cute. And the twins seem to like it too.”

“They don’t have shows like this in Russia?”

“They do. My favorite show involved a bear too. The name of the show is translated to “Karen the Bear” in English. It was about an anthropomorphic bear that had little adventures with a little orphan girl, Svetlana. It was a good show.”

“Wait, did you just say the show translated to Karen the Bear in English?”

“Yes. Is that weird?”

“No, no. I was just making sure I heard you right. And was this bear a black bear?”

“Yes. You’re familiar with that show?”

“No. Just a lucky guess.”

“Mother loved that show too. We would always watch it together when I was little. I guess it was because the little girl reminded her of herself. Her name was also Svetlana too.”

“Oh, I see. Wow, that’s really interesting. I’m a little perplexed though.”

“Why is that?”

“The twins are almost a month old…”

“A month? I keep forgetting their newborns. They mature so fast.”

“I guess they get that from their father. I think his kind mature faster than humans.”

“I see. Go on.”

“Well, in my family, a baby is christened after they turn a month old. Problem is, I have no idea how to plan one.”

“I could help you. I’ve help plan other christenings for babies I helped take care off. Actually, I have pictures from my own christening. I’ll show you,” she assured before she took out an old photo album out of her bag and placed it on her lap.

“You carry an old photo album around with you?”

“Yeah, I like having good memories.”

“You sound like Rip. I shouldn’t really judge though. I always keep pictures of my mother with me.”

“What happened to your mother, anyway? You told me about your dad and aunts and uncle and your two cousins.”

“Her name was Alice…Alice Rose Ziegler. I took her name after I turned 18. My real name was Toni Collette. She was a painter and she was my whole world growing up. My dad was never really around since he was always on business trips, but my mother always let me know how much she loved and cared about me. She owned an art shop, AliceRoseArt, back in my hometown of Olympia, Delaware which was next door to my aunt Zora’s bakery, ZoraCakes and my aunt Gwen’s alteration shop, Gwen Taylor’s Alterations. She always told me she wanted me to follow in her footsteps. She wanted me to take over the shop after her and continue her painting classes after her death. But I didn’t think I was good enough to do any of that. That is until I got this sweet little note from Rip when I was eight,” I said before I handed her a picture of my mother and the note. “My dad was ashamed of his roots and totally denied that he was from this town. But my mother wanted me to know the other side of my family. She wanted me to know where we came from. So she would always bring me here and I would spend the summers at my cousin Larry’s mansion. And that’s actually how I met Rippen…”

“Wow. You look just like your mom. She was really pretty. And this is such a sweet note. I’m sorry for interrupting. Continue. This is an interesting story.”

“It’s fine. My mother and her siblings are actually half German. My grandfather was actually a first generation German immigrant and he was deaf. So they are all lighter skinned because even my grandmother was biracial. I’m actually the darkest one on my mother’s side of the family but that’s because my father has really dark skin. But anyway, I started coming here during the summers since I was a newborn. And as I started to grow up, I developed a little crush on Rippen since he was my cousin’s friend and he was always around. Honestly, I was fascinated by him. I never saw anyone that looked like him in Olympia. And he was like a little friend to me. My only friends were my cousins, Gia and Ricky, back home but I liked being in his company more. Honestly, they both were more like father figures in my life than my own father. But the summer after my eighth birthday, my parents got into an argument about me ever coming back here and my mother went to take a ride to cool down. It was raining that night and she hit a tree and died on impact. My whole world fell apart after that. Larry and Rip both wanted to pay their respects, but my father forbid them to come to the funeral. Rip actually told me after we got married that he really wanted to go to comfort me, but my father didn’t want him anywhere near me. He didn’t understand him. He saw him as a menace, a threat to our pure bloodline and he didn’t want me to have an association with him. My aunt Zora took me in after that and Gia and I grew up like sisters. My father still wasn’t around but he was even more overbearing even in his absence. He forbade my aunt to ever even think to bring me here. And he wanted me to stay in the proximity of Olympia. He never wanted me to leave the town. He kept me sheltered those fourteen years until I had to branch out…”

“Sorry to interrupt again, but who took over the store after your mother died?”

“Her best friend, Miss Claire Jenkins. She’s also my godmother. Gia and I actually worked in the store with her and just like my mother wanted, I took over the painting classes too. I stayed in the town for college too. I studied and majored in Studio Art, and minored in Art History and Art Theory with a basis in education at Olympia State University and I had to have an internship credit to graduate which meant I had to be a student teacher for a semester. I procrastinated and soon enough, all of the positions in Olympia began to fill up. I didn’t really know what to do until I got a postcard from Rip and Larry that Miss Claire found in the shop’s mailbox. I showed my aunt and she decided that we should get in contact with them and see if I could be Rip’s student teacher. She set up everything with Larry and didn’t tell my dad until the night before my flight left. He was upset but he insisted that I stayed under Larry’s constant supervision although I was 21 by then.”

“Wow. It must have been crazy coming back here after all of these years.”

“It was. So much had changed and I didn’t really know what to think of it. I think the funniest thing though was Rip seeing me again after all of those years. I guess he forgot I wasn’t going to be a little girl anymore. I was a grown woman and I think that really made him awkward around me at first. But I liked being a student teacher. All of the kids loved me. I actually won the Best Student Teacher of the Year Award and they had this whole party for me at the school. I have a bunch of pictures from that semester too. I felt at home here too. Soon enough, Rip and I started dating which my dad wasn’t too happy about, but he ended up winning him over enough for him to actually allow us to get married.  
That honestly was the best day of my life. And the rest is history. We’ve been married for almost two years now and we have the twins. My aunts, uncle, and cousins still live in Olympia and my dad recently moved to NYC.”

“Wow. Great story, Miss Alice. I actually found the picture I wanted you to see while you were talking,” she insisted before she showed me the picture. It looked like they were at a small little chapel and Phyllis was holding her with a slight smile on her face and she was standing next to who I assumed was her dad since he looked Asiatic and Phil was standing on the other side of them. She had on a frilly dress with a little bonnet and Phyllis had on a plain long sleeve dress while both her father and Phil were wearing suits.

“Oh. Your mom was a red head?”

“Yeah, she was. Her name was Svetlana Dziga Kozintsev-Volkov. Then that’s my dad next to her, Esfir-Gustav Volkov and that’s my uncle, Grigori Jan Kozintsev.”

“Oh, okay. You were a cute baby.”

“Thank you. You can look through it if you want.”

“Okay. What does the banner above you guys say?”

“Anastasia Irina-Helga Volkov’s Christening Ceremony”

“So you have a double middle name?”

“My parents couldn’t decide.”

“I see. Well, we are going to give the twins their second middle name at their christening.”

“Really? Aww, that sounds so cute.” I didn’t answer her, instead I just went through the photo album and two pictures stood out to me. The first looked like a birthday party for Stasia and of course she was standing by her parents (and surprisingly, Phyllis actually looked happy) but I noticed Phil standing in the back holding hands with a biracial woman. The second was her (probably at five or six) with Phyllis and they were standing in front of a theater wearing thick coats, muffs, and caps.

“Who is this woman your uncle is holding hands with in this picture?”

“Oh. That’s Nadya. Nadya Maria Goncharova. She’s my godmother. My uncle and she were actually engaged before mother and he moved to America.”

“Oh, okay. And what about this picture?”

“A picture must have fallen out. Where is that picture of me with my uncle? Oh, it fell. I got it,” she said before she handed me the picture. “These two are supposed to be on the same page.”

“Are you two ice fishing?”

“Yeah, my dad was always working too and since my uncle lived with us, I was always with him and mother. My mom took this picture and he took the picture of us. But yeah, Uncle Grigori loved going ice fishing and it was funny because mother would always complain whenever he would take us. The other picture is us in front of my mother’s favorite place in all of St. Petersburg. She absolutely loved that theater and she would always take me there whenever they were showing a new movie. It was like her favorite thing other than watching our favorite show with me. In English, the sign translated to Leonid’s Theatre after the guy that owned it. He died when I was nine and they closed it. My mother  
moped about it for days…weeks…even months. She was just fascinated by that type of entertainment. She was a great story teller too. She always told me about different fantasy worlds and it always made me wonder if there was more out there than what we know. Have you ever wondered that, Miss Alice?”

“You have no idea,” I moaned before I scratched the back of my head.

“I just wonder where Uncle Grigori and she are now. I hope they’re okay. It’s been 11 years since I saw them.”

“I’m sure they’re fine and they might be just around the corner. You never know. Stranger things have happened.”

“I doubt that, Miss Alice. But thanks for listening. It’s nice to let it out.”

“No problem. It seems we have the same story…almost. But could I ask you something?”

“Yes?”

“How did your parents meet?”

“Honestly, I don’t really know, Miss Alice. My father and my uncle both had different stories. They had a puppy love type of story though. They loved each other briefly but they started to break away from each other slowly as I got older. Then they got a divorce when I was eleven…they told me bye before they left for America, but my whole world turned upside down after they left.”

“I can see why. I mean you said you were always with them.”

“Yeah. I actually have a question for you, Miss Alice.”

“Okay, what?”

“Why does Rippen always smell like wine and fish grease when he gets back home? And why does he get back so late? Don’t most teachers get back home around 5 or 5:30? He usually comes back around 6 or after. I hope I’m not being too nosy. I’ve just been noticing a pattern.” Although she was being nosy, I decided to be nice and play it off. We couldn’t let her know about our secret job and I didn’t want her to know that I talk to her mother and uncle almost every day either…not yet anyway. So I just smiled and said,

“You know, I really don’t know.”

“Oh, okay. I was just curious. It kinda reminds me of Uncle Grigori. He would always smell like that too.”

“What a funny coincidence.”

“I guess so,” she giggled.

 

Just like Stasia predicted, Rip got back home around 6:15 and he did smell like wine and fish grease. The funny thing is I actually got used to that aroma, so it never really bothered me until she pointed it out. The twins were sound asleep in their playpen and Stasia was showing me English dubbed episodes of Kevin the Bear on my tablet. But as soon as he walked in, she started to giggle and handed me my tablet before she started to pack up to go.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. How was work?” I asked, still sitting on the sofa. I know I usually got up and kissed him, but I was comfortable under my blanket.

“It was…like usual. You know I can’t teach those beasts without you.”

“Now, Rip, you don’t like when people call you a beast…so don’t call the children beasts. They’re teenagers. How many times do we have to go through that?”

“Obviously, many times because I’m very stubborn.”

“I know you are, knucklehead. Your wage is on the counter, Stasia. Did you see it?”

“I saw it. I got it. Good night, Miss Alice. Take care. And bye, Grigori,” she said before she walked out.

“What was that about? What was so funny? And why did she call me Grigori? I mean I know I have a Russian sounding name, but that isn’t it,” he concluded before he sat down by me. I didn’t answer him, instead I kissed him.

“You ask too many questions.”

“It’s because I’m very curious.”

“Of course you are,” I teased before I kissed him again.

“I still want my questions answered.”

“And they will be answered…after the twins are put to bed for the night and after you make sweet love to me tonight.”

“I don’t know. I’m beat from this last mission. I don’t think I have enough energy.”

“Why you lying? Why you always lying?”

“Do you have to talk like those beasts…?”

“Vladimir Rippen Van Winkle.”

“Fine, do you have to talk like those teenagers?”

“Yes,” I giggled.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

After we got the twins ready for bed and put them to sleep, we ventured off to our room and shared a little intimacy before he cuddled me up tight in his arms and kept on kissing my cheek and neck. Of course, I giggled but I kinda wanted him to loosen his grip around me.

“Rip, could you release a little bit?”

“No. I’ll never let you go, Alice Cade Rodgers.”

“Actually, it’s Alice Rose Van Winkle, remember? I changed that after we got married.”

“Okay, Toni,” he moaned before he kissed my cheek again.

“Vlad, let me go. They’re two more episodes of We Bare Bears that I missed. I recorded them on the DVR.”

“No, I will never let you go. Not until you answer my questions from earlier.”

“Fine. What were your questions again?”

“Why did Anastasia call me Grigori and why was she giggling when I walked in…and what were you two watching on your tablet?”

“Okay. Where to begin? Where to begin? Grigori was Phil’s name back in St. Petersburg.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Stasia was asking me why you smell like fish grease and wine when you come back home because that’s how Phil would smell.”

“Okay. Go on.”

“That’s why she was giggling and she was showing me the Russian equivalent of We Bare Bears that she grew up watching. Apparently, they still have new episodes too.”

“Figures.”

“It’s translated to Karen the Bear in English and the little girl he goes on adventures with is named Svetlana…which was Phyllis’ name back in St. Petersburg.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I couldn’t make this shit up. Rip, she’s on to us. She’s wondering why you smell like her uncle whenever you come back home and why you get back so late. I mean I want to help her see her family again, but not yet. It has to be just right.”

“Wow, so those two aren’t that unpredictable. Did they basically mold their new ‘world’ on their experiences in St. Petersburg?”

“Pretty much. She told me that Phil would always take her ice fishing and Phyllis would tell her stories about infinite universes…”

“She told her that?!”

“She just thought she was a good storyteller. She asked me if I believed in that.”

“You didn’t…”

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t tell her about our other job.”

“Okay. Good,” he sighed in relief.

“She also told me that Phyllis was so fascinated with this old theatre in the town and she would always take Stasia there whenever they were showing a new film. But the guy that owned and operated it died when Stasia was nine and they closed it. She talked about how hard she took it too. She said she didn’t stop moping about it for days, weeks, even months.”

“Wow. Is there any more information I need to know about their lives back in Russia?”

“Well, Phyllis was a red head and Phil was engaged at one time. Also, her parents didn’t seem that happy together.”

“Wow. What a shock. It doesn’t surprise me that she was a red head. And Phil was engaged at one time? I didn’t expect that.”

“But yeah, that’s all she told me. She carries around an old photo album in her bag so that’s how I saw all of her pictures.”

“So she’s not much different than us. I guess we all can’t let go of the past.”

“I guess so.”

“So that really is the only reason why we hired her? So we could plan a family reunion?”

“She is a good nanny though. The girls love her.”

“She has impressed me, I must admit. I just can’t believe they shaped their whole new chapter around their old chapter.”

“They aren’t the only ones guilty of that. I know that for sure. That goes for mortals and immortals. I just feel bad for Stasia though. I have to wait for the right time, but she really misses her mom and uncle and she has the chance to see them again. I don’t have the same shot with my mother.”

“But it was fate that they all ended up in the same place. You have to admit that. It’s not that hard to reunite them. They’re just right around the corner.”

“That’s true. I tried to tell her the same thing, but she doesn’t believe me. I don’t blame her though. It is easy to doubt someone’s word.”

“But not yours. You are a very honestly and real person.”

“Thank you, knucklehead. You always know the right things to say. I love you.”

“I love you too. Now, I just want to see this little cartoon she had you watching.”

“You’re lucky. I saved a playlist on my tablet. I’ll get it.”

“Okay,” he moaned before he kissed me.

After I got my tablet, we watched three episodes before Rip had to tend to Gryffin again. I went on to watch half of the fourth episode I chose before he came back.

“Did you watch another without me?”

“Why do you care?”

“No reason.”

“Vladimir Rippen Van Winkle.”

“Fine, I kinda like it.”

“Okay. That’s fine. You can be honest with me, knucklehead. Don’t you know that?”

“Yes,” he sighed before he jumped back on his side of the bed. He snuggled closer to me too, before I rewind the video and played it again.

 

Rip and I decided to have the twins’ christening at Larry Manor in two months, when they would turn a month old. I figured that was enough time to get everything ready and prepped for the second biggest day of my daughters’ lives (birth is obviously the first). I got a lot of help and advice from Aunt Zora, Aunt Gwen, and Gia as well as Vivienne and Roseann (she also told me that she used to have a huge crush on Rip and he knew...but he never told me…). I also did a lot of investigating on Pinterest and got Stasia to help me with the some of the decorations while she was on her shift. All that was left was mailing and handing out all of the invitations as well as making a banner. But the day we got all that settled was kinda of a trainwreck on Stasia’s part.

“Done,” I said before I finished stacking the invitations we had to mail and the ones we could just hand out. The twins were watching We Bare Bears again and playing with the toys that Rip bought them on the floor while Stasia was taking a crack at the banner.

“You got the invitations finished already.”

“Yep. The ones that I have to mail are already addressed and stamped.”

“Why don’t you mail them today? It’s a pretty day and we could take the twins out for some fresh air.”

“You know what. You’re right. We have been cooped up in here for the past few days. Could you help me get the twins ready then? And I need to throw something else on too.”  
We settled on the usual onesie for them. Gryffin’s was purple with dragons and Phoenix’s was yellow with giraffes. I threw on one of my old college shirts, some denim shorts, my blue Toms, blue frames, and threw my hair up in a messy bun with a blue bandanna.

“Okay, I’m ready,” I said after I walked back in the den. Stasia had just turned off everything and put the toys in their playpen after she put the twins in their stroller.

“Okay, Miss Alice. Let’s go.”

I didn’t even realize how late it was because what happened next almost threw me for a loop. We, of course, walked to the post office but our HQ and the three’s HQ was on the way to it all…and I seemed to forget that. Stasia looked a little creeped out as we walked on that street too. She started walking faster and pushing the stroller faster before we got to the next block. As we kept walking, I noticed that Stasia kept on looking back and I was a little dazed but I didn’t even realize that she was about to collide with Penn who was just minding his own business, riding his scooter. As soon as I came back to reality, I noticed what happened and lucky the twins were okay but Penn was on the ground and  
he had to move his scooter off of his leg. I ran to access the damage too, sooner than Sashi or Boone did.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going,” Stasia pleaded.

“It’s okay. I’m not hurt,” he assured before he jumped up. “Are the twins okay?”

“They’re fine,” Stasia quickly answered.

“Good. They are a little more important in this situation. I can handle a little bruising. They can’t…yet anyway…oh, hey Miss Alice.”

“Hey, Miss Alice!” Boone greeted as soon as he caught up with us. “You’re not going to say anything, Sashi?”

“Don’t touch me. I don’t know you,” she screamed.

“Here we go again. Are you going to do that all day?”

“Just let her rest it off, Boone. She’s a little vulnerable right now.”

“Isn’t that a bad thing?”

“I really don’t know, Boone. She’s been acting funny since that whole shadow conundrum. Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, Miss…”

“I’m Anastasia Irina-Helga Volkov.”

“She’s the twins’ nanny,” I interjected.

“Oh, okay. Well, I’m Penn and these are my friends, Sashi and Boone.”

“Hey, Miss Volkov,” Boone excitedly said before he picked up Sashi’s hand to wave. She didn’t like that apparently, because she jumped up and ran after him with both of her fists up.

“Well, I got to go. I have to make sure my girlfriend doesn’t murder my friend. And can’t be late for the job. See you later, Miss Alice. And it was nice meeting you, Miss Volkov.”

“Nice meeting you too,” she said before he rode off.

After we left the post office, she suddenly asked,

“So how do you know those kids?”

“They were some of the kids I helped teach when I was Rip’s student teacher. They’re pretty cool kids.”

“Really, because the Asian one seems a little demented and mean.”

“That’s her personality, but once you get passed that, she’s not that bad. She has some redeeming qualities.”

“I see. Please tell me we don’t have to walk down that street again.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not safe to have the twins in such a sketchy and deserted street. It gives me the creeps.”

“Funny you would say that. But fine. There’s another street we could take.”

“Okay. Good.”

Once we got back, I set out the toys for the twins again and put on the two We Bare Bears episodes I missed, while Stasia went back to designing the banner. She finished it in the nick of time and was delighted to show me what she came up with.

“Miss Alice! I finished!”

“Okay. Let me see what you came up with.” She happily picked up the banner before showing it to me with a huge smile on her face. I didn’t really want to crush her spirit either, but her banner was in Russian and no one would be able to understand that except for her and Phil.

“Um, Stasia, what does that say?”

“Oh, it says Phoenix and Gryffin Van Winkle’s Christening Ceremony.”

“Okay…but it’s in Russian and no one is going to be able to read it but you.”

“What do you mean?” she asked in a shaky voice.

“I would just like for the banner to be in English…that way everyone will be able to read it.”

“Oh. I apologize…I just…I just…”But she didn’t finish her sentence, instead she dropped the banner and ran to our bathroom before she slammed the door and I could hear her crying. I was going to go comfort her until my phone started ringing. I picked it up and noticed it was Vivienne on the other line.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Alice. I was just calling to check on you. We haven’t talked in a while. How’s Rip and the girls?”

“Yeah, we haven’t. Oh, everyone is fine. The girls are maturing so fast.”

“Really? They aren’t even a month yet.”

“Yes, but they are more like their father than me.”

“Oh, yeah, you never really told me what species Rip was. I know he isn’t human.”

“I don’t think he wants me to tell people…”

“Oh, Alice. It’s just me. I’m not going to make fun of him. I’m a grown woman, I don’t have time to be acting like a middle schooler.”

“Okay, Viv. But you can’t tell anyone. He trusts me…”

“I won’t. I promise.”

“Okay…he’s half demon/half goblin.”

“Wait, did you just say he’s half demon?”

“Yeah. I just learned that too…he told me before the twins were born.”

“Interesting. So I guess their offspring matures faster than humans?”

“Yep.”

“Well, he’s just the whole fantasy package. I thought he was a goblin man myself. Don’t tell him I said that though.”

“I won’t.”

“He’s a very nice man though. You got yourself a keeper. You seem very happy with him.”

“I am. I find myself lucky to have found the man of my dreams right from the start. I mean he is a lot older than me…but….”

“He doesn’t look a day over 37 though. You have to give him that.”

“Demons don’t really age though. He completes me.”

“Aww. Well, good for you. My ex-husband really was a demon. But my two boys and I are better without him. I just hope my sons know to be gentlemen when it comes to women.”

“Yeah, it’s sad really. Some many girls my age fall for terrible men. I always wanted a gentleman but I was always laughed at about it. I’m probably the only one with a fulfilling and loving relationship now. They would probably mock me for being married to someone that looks as old as my dad on the outside but…”

“Bump the haters, girl. You’re special and you deserve to be happy. It doesn’t matter that your man is centuries older than you. He treats you like a queen and that’s how every girl should be treated by a man. He’s doing it right. Human men could really learn from him.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, what’s that noise? Is something wrong with the girls?”

“No, that’s Anastasia,” I whispered. “She got a little worked up…”

“A little worked up? Are you planning a christening for the twins?”

“Yeah, I forgot to mention. You’re invited of course.”

“Oh, I know…”

“Wait, did something happen with your boys?”

“The same thing happened both times. I asked her to help with the decorations, she made a banner that was written out in Russian, I asked her about it, and then she flipped out. I really didn’t know why she would get worked up though…”

“It’s because she misses her mom and uncle.”

“Oh…wait, wasn’t that Japanese looking guy at the baby shower talking about her being his niece?”

“Phil? Yeah, he is. His fake Russian name was Grigori. She doesn’t know that they live here. I don’t want to tell her yet though either. I think she’s figuring it out though.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I just have a hunch,” I said, trying not to blow Rip and my cover and other job.

“I see. Well, you might want to check on her then. Poor girl. I don’t know what I would do without my mother for that long. She was such a big help after my divorce.”

“You have no idea,” I moaned. “Speaking of Phil, I need to talk to him.”

“About what? What happened?”

“Let’s just say Rip didn’t tell me something that he should have told me.”

“Ooh. Someone is in trouble.”

“Yep.”

“Well, I’ll let you go. It was nice catching back up with you though.”

“Same. Bye, Viv.”

After I hung up, I went to the bathroom door and knocked before she said,

“Miss Alice, I’m sorry. I’m just vulnerable right now.”

“I understand, Stasia. I know what it’s like to be without a mother. You seem to forget my mom died when I was eight. I was very vulnerable then. I didn’t really understand life then, but I was forced to grow up and figure out what I wanted for myself after she died. My dad was about the same as yours. He cared but we were still very distant. I mean I had a community of people that cared about me, but no one should have to live their life without a supportive mother. I know you’re probably upset about her leaving when you were so young, although you miss her, but something tells me that she’s out there somewhere and she still loves you and thinks about you all of the time. She’s probably still alive and you have a slim chance of seeing her again and making up. And you know what, I want to help you find her. I know I’ll never be able to see my mother’s beautiful, smiling face ever again, but I don’t want what happened to me to happen to you. I want better for you.”

As soon as I finished my monologue, she propped the door open and I saw she was sitting on the cover of the toilet with an old polaroid picture in her hands. She cried so much that her makeup was running down her face but she faked a slight smile and said,

“Thank you, Miss Alice. I needed that. I’m sorry. I just miss her so much.”

“I know you do, Stasia,” I said before I hugged her and started crying myself. After I let her go, she handed me the picture in her hands. She looked older, so I figured she was either ten or eleven in this picture, and Phyllis had her in a tight hug and actually looked really happy meanwhile Stasia was smiling too and clutching onto a teddy bear.

“This is the last picture I have with her. It was the night before she and uncle left. I didn’t know that my world was going to turn upside down then. I don’t know what happened to my teddy bear though. I guess she took it with her. I don’t know why though. The only thing left that I have of her, other than these pictures, is this locket she gave me before she left. I never take it off.”

“I understand. I treasure the charm bracelet my mother gave me before she died.”

“I’m glad you chose me to be the twins’ nanny. I’ve never met anyone that understood me like you, Miss Alice. Thank you. The twins are lucky to have you for a mother.”

“Thanks,” I said before blushing. “But I just hope nothing happens to me. I don’t want Rip to have to be a single parent and I don’t want my daughters to have to suffer through what I had to.”

“I would think positively, Miss Alice.”

“You’re right, Stasia. I needed that.”


	16. Alice*

The day of the twins’ christening came in a hurry and I was a nervous wreck to Rippen’s dismay. But he decided to go along with it all and tried to calm me down as much as he could. Aunt Zora, Aunt Gwen, Gia, Ricky, Uncle Langston, and daddy all flew down from Olympia to come too and stayed at the manor. The christening was actually at a local chapel and then the reception was going to be at the manor. Anastasia couldn’t make it, which was actually a good thing because Phil was there and I wanted to wait to play family reunion. But she still managed to give us their gift just like the three and Phyllis did.

At the ceremony, Rip and I decided to make Gia and Larry their godparents (I had really convince Rip to go through with it too) and we gave them their second middle name. Phoenix’s full name was now Phoenix Varvara-Mirajane Van Winkle and Gryffin’s full name was now Gryffin Natalya-Marijane Van Winkle. The ceremony was fairly short too and then it was off to the manor for the reception.

The layout was very similar to the baby shower, except Rip and Phil installed a latch hook dual baby bed and put it in the middle of the ballroom so the twins could be comfortable. Gryffin seemed intrigued by what was going on around her though, since she picked herself up and started babbling and clapping as she looked out to the party. Everyone thought she was so cute and started to surround her which only boosts her ego more. I just giggled and decided that this was the perfect time to talk to Phil about what Roseann told me.

“Hey Phil,” I said with a sly grin after I sat by him.

“Hey, Alice. So proud of twins. Gryffin’s fast learner, huh? Very advanced for age. I’m proud uncle.”

“They are both learning and maturing fast. But I wanted to ask you about something.”

“No, no. I know nothing about Roseann and…”

“Who said anything about Roseann?”

“Oh, no. I swore not to tell.”

“Well, obviously Roseann doesn’t care. She told me.”

“But Rippen does. He don’t want you to know.”

“You can just tell me. She already spilled the beans.”

“Fine. They had date…at restaurant…it was bad…worse date ever.”

“Alice, what are you doing here? Zora wants to take our picture with the girls.”

“I was just talking to Phil. Right?”

“Right.”

“Oh, I know. He was telling you the secret I told him to keep. You two seem to forget I have enhanced hearing. It’s a part of being half demon.”

“You could have told me, Rip,” I declared after I jumped up from my seat.

“I didn’t tell you for a reason.”

“And why was that? Were you embarrassed? Roseann totally laughed it off.”

“I didn’t tell you because you’re friends with her now. I didn’t want to make it awkward.”

“Really? It’s not that deep, Rip. It’s fine.”

“Okay. Now let’s go take these pictures. Zora’s getting anxious.”

“Okay,” I said before he pushed me forward.

 

We didn’t get to Aunt Zora though. As soon as we started walking her way, the lights turned off and flickered back on. Soon enough, the ground started to shake under our feet, the chandelier shook above us, and the curtains started to sway back and forth before a forceful cold wind surrounded the room. Suddenly, the lights started to flicker faster, the walls started oozing blood, and the glass from the windows started to break. The chandelier snapped from its harness and fell before the room went dark again and the lights started to flicker again. We knew what to expect though and Rippen held me against him and tried to guard the twins too.

“Oh, what a nice party. It’s a shame I wasn’t invited though,” she cooed.

“Who said that?” Aunt Zora asked before a ninja star hit a mirror hanging on the wall and shattered it into a million pieces.

“Oh, you sorry humans, I forgot you can’t see me like this,” she started before she went into her stable form. She disappeared and reappeared in front of Rip and me before she said, “Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Dark Empress Vlurgen, Mistress of Chaos and Discord…I’m Vladie’s sister…his dearest sister that he didn’t invite to the party. I wanted to see my nieces too, Vladie.”

“Oh, hey Vlurgen. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yes, Lawrence Rodgers, is it?”

“Well, people call me Larry.”

“Of course, worthless henchman.”

“Don’t patronize her, Larry.”

“What was that, Vladie? Your terrible henchman can talk to me. You think you have control over everything when you don’t. You like to flex your muscle, when you can’t even fight. You fear me, dearest brother. How pathetic. How do you fear your little sister?”

“Leave him alone.”

“Who dares stand up to me?!”

“I dare.”

“Oh, well it’s the stubborn, headstrong, human wife of my brother. Alice, is it?”

“Yes, and you’re going to stop talking about my husband like that. He’s very strong and noble. And my cousin is not worthless. He’s just a different type of henchman.”

“I see. You really think you can stand up to me and win?”

“I’m not afraid of you. You’re just a bully with magical powers.”

“That’s what you think of me. Ha! I’m more than that. You don’t fear me? We’ll just see about that,” she assured before she disappeared and the room went dark again. All of a sudden, I felt another cold wisp of air and could heard the swiping of blades and simultaneous screaming and shrieking around me before the light came back on and exposed the lifeless bodies of our guests. The only ones standing were me, Rip, Larry, Phil, and of course the twins.

“So you killed all of my loved ones? Really, that’s the best you can do. Humans can do that too.”

“I like your moxie. I love seeing other women with sass like me.”

“Really?”

“Yes, just not human women,” she declared before she picked me up with her beams and threw me against the adjacent wall. I was bruised up and scarred, but I was still conscience even with the blood fall from my mouth.

“Leave her alone, Vlurgen. You can see your nieces. Just stop hurting her.”

“And what fun would that be? I already warned you that Alice’s time on Earth is running out. I just came to collect my ransom.”

“Don’t you dare touch her!” he screamed before he jumped on her.

“Vladie, you know not to anger me,” she cooed before she blasted him off of her and stuck him to the other adjacent wall with her beams acting as shackles. “I didn’t know you wanted a front row seat to view the excruciating painful death of your wife. But I can make arrangements. And don’t even think about trying to close your eyes or look away because I have other restraints. But anyway, enjoy the show.” 

I try to repress what happened after that, but it stays vivid with me still. She went back to her shadow form and possessed me before killing me slowly on the inside. Her attack left me numb and limp and I couldn’t fight back no matter how hard I tried. The harder I fought, the more pain she inflicted on me. I didn’t want to freak Rip out though. I wanted to make him think I could handle it, but I couldn’t. I was already almost lifeless by the time she exited my body, but she had to make sure the job was done. I still remember the excruciating pain her beams left on me. She must have used her most powerful energy beams to suck the rest of the life out of me. I was screaming in pain before she dropped my lifeless body back on the ground five minutes later.

My spirit lingered in that room, but I guess she couldn’t see me and neither could the three guys. I hid behind the broken mirror and had to witness the rest of her plan unfold like this…weak and helpless.

“No! No! No!”

“Oh, look at your poor wife. She’s dead. And you did nothing to protect her. Didn’t you promise her and her precious mother you would protect her? You failed…but that doesn’t surprise me. You’ve always been a failure. This poor human woman was dumb enough to fall in love with you. She could have done better…she should of and she would still be alive. Oh, Vladie, Vladie, I know this will haunt you forever. You weren’t strong enough to face your little sister and now you have an innocent human woman’s blood on your hands.”

“I did try to protect her. I didn’t kill her, you did.”

“Yes, but you could have stopped me. You could have. But you’re weak. She had more moxie than you and I knew she couldn’t face me. You’re a coward. You’re all talk but can’t do. You think just because you have a little muscle, you’re threatening? Ha! All lies. You can’t even fight. You’re nothing with your precious wife. That’s why I got rid of her. But of all the good she did for you, she still couldn’t make you a better villain. And why is that? Maybe because she’s friends with your enemies. Three fifteen year olds? Really? You can’t defeat three fifteen year olds. I could do that in seconds. You’re a worthless failure and that’s all you’ll ever be.”

“I hate you! You got what you wanted, now leave!”

“Oh, Vladie,” she started before she flicked his goatee. “I hate you too, but I’m not done. I didn’t get my full ransom. I did come to see my nieces too.”

“Don’t you dare touch them.”

“Or what? You all fear me. You can’t do anything. You’re tied up at the moment.”

“Don’t hurt them.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dare. I just want to bless them with a curse.”

“No!” he screamed before the beams shocked him.

“Oh, yes,” she cooed before she walked over to the twins. Phoenix was still fast asleep, but Gryffin was still awake, just lying down and playing with her feet. When she saw Vlurgen, she started giggling and had her arms up for her to pick her up. “Well, would you look at that. This one loves me already.” After she picked her up and held her. “You remind me of my special little girl, Xiomara. You are so cute.”

“Don’t touch her.”

“Oh, so this one must be your favorite. I have a special treat for her then. I bestow upon both of them half of my power. But it won’t appear until their fourteenth birthday but after the dawn of that day, your precious favorite will break your heart and run away from home…into my arms. Treasure her while she still loves you, because she’ll hate you soon enough and she’ll love me like the mother she doesn’t have anymore. Well, I think I caused enough damage. Ta ta. See you in fourteen years to collect my ransom, dearest brother…and also in your nightmares,” she declared before she cackled and disappeared.

Once she disappeared, everyone regained their life except for me. And Rippen was freed from his shackles. I still watched on from the mirror, and it broke me so bad to see everyone I loved sad about my death. Larry was the first to go over to my lifeless body and he hesitated to tell Rip that I wasn’t breathing. Rip soon ran over to my side and held me in his arms before he started crying. But out of everyone, Phil looked the most uneasy and upset.

“Phil, you have to bring her back,” Rip cried.

“I would if I could. I’m not miracle worker. She gone. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, no. I promised I would take care of her, but now she’s gone. I’m a horrible husband.”

“On the bright side, she’s with her mother now,” Larry added.

“That was your sister?!” daddy yelled. “You let that bitch kill my daughter. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you to take care of her.”

“Kenneth, stop it. It’s not his fault. Can’t you see he’s just as upset as the rest of us,” Aunt Zora interjected. “We’re all upset about her passing, but cursing Rippen out won’t solve anything. It’s not your fault, dear. You did everything you could to stop that bitch. Don’t think this is your fault.”

“Thank you, Zora. But I need to go. I need to start planning Alice’s funeral.

“Oh, Rip. I know this is hard for you, but you must be strong. Your daughters need you now more than ever. I know Alice would tell you the same thing. And she’ll always be with you. I know she will be. She’s your guardian angel, right?”

“I guess you’re right, Zora. I guess you’re right.”


	17. Lady Montague

“Yes! Yes! She’s finally dead!” I cheered throughout my surveillance room. “Temina, why are you celebrating with me?!”

“I didn’t know you wanted me to celebrate, your majesty,” she moaned.

“Well, I do. That’s an order.”

“Your wish is my command, your highness,” she moaned before she halfheartedly cheered. “Oh, I hear someone at the door.” She walked away quickly, but I just shook off her halfhearted attempt of cheering and went back to my screens. It was sad to see my baby so upset, but he would get over it. Eventually…

“Your majesty, Empress Vlurgen is here.”

“Bring her in, Temina.”

“It’s Dark Empress Vlurgen to you,” she scoffed before she made her way by me. “The dark deed has been done. It was too much fun torturing and killing her. I never knew hurting humans was so fun. Sir William was right about that.”

“Humans are the worst link of the multiverse. I would never get myself involved with them in anyway. But you did an excellent job. I think I should pay you.”

“You can keep your money, Mira. I’m just glad my brother is slowly falling into depression. That’s reward in itself.”

“I hate to see my precious Rippy upset, but Alice doesn’t deserve him.”

“I don’t know about that. All I know is that she makes your brother happy and to make him miserable, I had to get rid of her.”

“Hmm. Where’s Jennae? I thought she would be with you? And what was up with Phil?”

“Oh, Phil has fallen to the ways of the humans. He’s just like Sir Malfus…except he actually used to be evil at one time. He actually liked Alice and tried to make me feel bad for what I did. Of course, it didn’t work. I don’t have a heart.”

“That’s so pitiful,” I scoffed.

“As for Jennae, I have no idea where she is. She left before I finished murdering precious Alice.”

“Wow, she is weak.”

“Your majesty, Duchess Jennae is here.”

“Bring her in.”

“I don’t need a formal greeting, Temina,” she remarked before she stormed in. “I quit, Mira!”

“What?! You dare call me out of my title?!”

“Yeah, I did, you purple bitch. I quit! I’m done being your damn puppet! You’re not my mother.”

“Look who’s getting bold?”

“Oh, shut the fuck up, Wicked Witch. You heard me. I’m done.”

“I made you who you are, Jennae. I kept you and protected you like a daughter. And this is how you’re going to treat me?”

“You can’t guilt trip me into helping you anymore! Thanks for being a somewhat decent parent figure, but I’m not your puppet. You two are the worst creatures in the multiverse.”

“What did you just say?!” Vlurgen angrily asked. “Humans are the worst creatures in the multiverse!”

“Humans seem like a better bunch than you two! You chose to be a single mother, Mira. Why did you force Rippen to be a single father? You know how much he loved Alice. You two just can’t stand to see people happy than you, huh?! I guess misery does love company. It broke my heart to see that poor man holding the dead love of his life in his arms. I would never mourn the loss of a human, but Alice is different. She just wanted to make your precious ex-husband happy. She really cared about Rippen unlike you! He was nothing but a pawn for you, Mira…but to her, he was special.”

“Alice doesn’t deserve him!”

“And you didn’t deserve him. I can’t even believe he’s trying to be like you two. Who wants to be miserable all of the time? Wait…I know what this is about. You were just jealous of Alice. She’s young and vibrant and beautiful and you wish you were still like that. And as for you, Vlurgen, what kind of mother are you? Why are you making your daughter go mad?!”

“I’m stripping her of her human frailty. But I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“You’re fucking horrible. You’re making your daughter go mad for your own selfish gain. You don’t love her. You’re trying to force her to be something she’s not…just like you tried to do with me, Mira. I’m not your precious evil daughter anymore. I’m done.”

“Where are you going to go?” I asked.

“I’m going to live amongst the humans. I think I’ll be better off around the ‘worst link of the universe’ than with you two.”

“They’ll never accept you. Humans are ignorant and judgmental,” Vlurgen scoffed.

“I don’t give a fuck at this point. I’m not going to be used anymore. And just for the record, that red headed kid is the best thing that happened to your precious Xiomara. He’s like Alice. He really loves and cares for her and you’re a fool to deny him simply for the fact that he is human. Now, I’m leaving. Goodbye and good riddens,” she declared before she slammed the door behind her.

“She’s just as stubborn as her mother,” I moaned. “She really thinks she’ll survive in the human world.”

“I guess so. She just got bold all of a sudden. I guess I’m just going to have to give one of my old friends a little call since she’s out.”

“Who’s this little friend?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Mira. You’ll see when the time is right. I have some more business to attend to in the meantime. Ta ta for now though.”


	18. Dark Empress Vlurgen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place in an AU where Gravity Falls was destroyed in Weirdmageddon. The destruction of Gravity Falls in this realm is referred to as the 'Oregon Incident'...and Mabel and Pacifica (who now go by Maribel and Paulina Starr, respectably, in this realm) were the only survivors who were rescued by the MPA (Multiversal Protection Agency) which will be given a full introduction in the next book. This is also the chapter where Bill Cipher is introduced into the story.

I really wondered what made Jennae snap like she did. She had no right to call me out on what I felt was best for my daughter. That boy is not good enough for her and she shouldn’t be a decent human being, she should be an evil demon princess. That was what she was destined to be. Jennae didn’t understand my loss. She didn’t know that she was stolen from me by the Guardians for their own personal gain. She had no idea. But she would see how horrible the human world was. She would see for herself. But good riddens to her. She wasn’t a very good henchman anyway.

Once I got back to my palace, Sergey and Boris were playing foosball while Alexei was watching the surveillance screens. It didn’t surprise me though. They were always playing around when I wasn’t around. But as soon as they saw me, they got back in line and bowed before me.

“Welcome back, your dark majesty,” Sergey said.

“Yeah, welcome back. How was the mission?” Boris asked.

“It was a success!” Alexei cheered. “You did well, dark empress.”

“Well, well, although this groveling is quite nice, I don’t need it!!! Now get back in line! I knew it was going to be a success!” I assured before I pushed Alexei out of my seat and started tapping at the keys below the screens. “Oh, my poor brother. Look how sad he is…I said look how sad he is!!!”

“Wow, he has it really bad,” Sergey assured after they all came by me.

“He’s pathetic,” Boris cooed.

“Shut up! Only I can say that!” I declared before I punched Boris in the face.

“My apologies, dark lady.”

“Why does he have Alice’s dead body in their bed?” Alexei asked.

“Because he’s a fucking idiot, that’s why Alexei.”

“I see, your majesty. What was in that letter?”

“It’s none of your concern, Alexei. My darling Shamael just misses me, is all. I see why though. His new wife is nothing special. Just another half-breed we don’t need in the Underworld.”

“Of course, your highness.”

“So where’s the Naaruian girl?” Sergey asked.

“Jennae has found other prospects beyond our realm. She’s become enamored with the human world and thus will not be working for me anymore. But not to worry, I have another…much better option for a minion.”

“Do we know this person?” Boris asked.

“No. She’s well known in the Underworld though.”

“We’re getting help from a demon?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” a voice asked from nowhere. 

My goons looked around befuddled, but I knew who said that. Suddenly, a bright light came from the ceiling and came down before the ground shook. The light faded away before it showed him. He was tall and lanky, with short platinum blonde hair, a blue eye, and tan skin. He had a black eye patch over his left eye and was wearing a black dress shirt with a golden vest over it and black pants with black leather shoes. He twirled his black cane around a little before he tipped his black cap and bowed to me.

“Well, well, well, it’s nice to see you again, Vlurgie. You’re looking delightful and deliciously evil as usual. It’s been a while.”

“It has been ages. I’ve missed you so,” I cooed before I got up and hugged him. He returned the favor and kissed me too.

“Whoa. Wait a minute. Who are you and why did you kiss her?” Boris asked.

“Oh, I don’t think I’ve formally introduced myself to you cats. I’m Sir William of the Circle or as the humans know me, Bill Cipher, the diabolical dream demon of the Underworld. I go by Sir William in this realm though.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sergey and Boris both said. “I’m Sergey and I’m Boris.”

“They’re my goons.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Wait, you’re the Bill Cipher?!” Alexei chirped. “You’re the mastermind behind the Oregon Incident.”

“Why, yes I am. I’m also behind the Underworld Rebellion led by Princess Zelda and Prince Lance. But that was a failure. It’s too bad our new half-breed Empress is so resilient.”

“This is Alexei,” I moaned.

“Nice to meet you, Alexei. But it there,” he said before they shook hands. But then a blue flame appeared and Alexei decided to jerk his hand back.

“Oww. That hurt,” he whined before he shook his burning hand.

“I know. I like doing that to humans. But I guess it’s fun during that to goblins too.”

“Sir William and I casually dated after Shamael left me. We’re still crazy about each other, though.”

“Of course. You’re quite amazing, Vlurgie,” he assured before he kissed me again.

“What brings you here anyway, Willie?”

“Oh, I was just wondering how little Blonde Birdy was working out for you. Seems like she’s just as weak and gullible as I remember…since you got to Middleburg and murdered dear Alice Rose.”

“She is. I did exactly what you told me. The bell works like a charm. She’ll do anything to make her precious wife happy. I don’t see why though. Maribel isn’t much of a catch.”

“I’ll say. She was a little too much for me in her home realm. But there is some other news that I must tell you.”

“Well, what is it dear?”

“I found the other vortexes. I’m actually glad to find one of them though.”

“Which one?”

“The one that holds Maribel’s dear brother.”

“Gable? What’s so great about him?”

“I’ve found a liking to him. I would love to make him my little pet for all of eternity.”

“I see. And you need my help?”

“No, no. It is not the time. I just thought that I would inform you, is all. But I heard that you have fallen back in love with Shamael.”

“Yes, I have. He gave me this wonderful letter. And we had a wonderful night together the other night. He truly misses me. I can understand though. Jodi isn’t all that.”

“We could get rid of her once and for all. I’m sick of these half-breeds coming in and trying to rule over me. I’m the most powerful dream demon of the Underworld. I’m a god on my own.”

“I agree, dear William. But that is not a part of my plans. I just want Shamael back. I could give less of a damn about Jodi.”

“So you do have a new diabolical plan? And you enlist the help of Shalone the Rogue?”

“How’d you know?”

“I read your mind.”

“Of course you did,” I teased before I kissed him again.

“Well, what is this diabolical plan and who’s all on board with this?”

“I want my daughter, Xiomara, and Shamael back. I want my brother to be miserable, so that’s why I killed Alice. His misery colors my kingdom pretty. And I want to decimate Middleburg. So far, Lady Montague is on board with my scheme.”

“Lady Montague? Your brother’s old wife, Mirajane Vituri?”

“Precisely. She wants my brother back. But why do you want to know so much?”

“I want to help. I love being a part of diabolical plans. I owe you anyway. If you didn’t help me during the Oregon Incident, it would have been a failure.”

“Oh, well I’d do anything for you. I’ll help you free Gable too, if you would like.”

“Well, thank you. Shalone is probably going to arrive soon.” As soon as he said that, a bright light appeared on the ceiling again and the ground shook before a shadow became stable. She was tall and skinny with bright red skin and Rapunzel long, silky black hair. Her green eyes glew in the dim light and her goat horns lightly adorned her head. But her black dress was worn and torn and her long black nails were untrimmed and ungroomed. But she just smirked when she could see us in awe.

“Hello! Shalone is here! Long time no see, Vlurgen. You look amazing.”

“You do too, girl,” I chirped before I ran over to hug her.

“So I hear you have a diabolical plan that involves breaking Jodi’s heart.”

“Well, that’s just one part of it. Shamael is madly in love with me again and he told me in this letter. I also have a tape of us together that fateful night.”

“So you want me to give it to her? I would love to break her little heart.”

“Yes, I do. But I have to debrief you further.”

“No need, Vlurgen. I already know. So are you on board too, William?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear it. This will be fun. Well, as long as someone doesn’t ruin the fun for us.”

“What are you talking about, Shalone?” I asked.

“You know who I’m talking about, don’t you William?”

“She’s talking about Malfus, Vlurgie,” he huffed.

“What?! I’m not worried about that poindexter. Why would he care? He’s too busy being a meat sack to care about what’s going on in this realm.”

“Don’t underestimate him, Vlurgen. He’s a very nosy little somebody and this involves Alice. That’s a red flag.”

“What do you mean?”

“He has a certain liking to Miss Alice, Vlurgie. As soon as he finds out she’s dead, he’ll be a problem. I’ve known Malfus for years. He’s quite a pest.”

“Well, he is the least of my worries.”

“But he’s a double agent now. He is affiliated with the Circle and the MPA.”

“The Circle? You mean his stupid version of it on Earth? With Dame Winona and Sir Julious?!”

“Yes, but whatever the case, William, he is going to be a problem. He doesn’t know how to mind his own business.”

“Not necessarily, Shalone. I’m sure Mira isn’t worried about him either.”

“Mira? As in Mirajane Vituri? She’s in on this too.”

“Yes, she is.”

“Wow, I had no idea she had an evil bone in his body. But back to Malfus, he’ll tell the agents if he finds out our plans. Aren’t you concerned about that?”

“No, not really. No one will believe him. No one takes him seriously. Mira was behind the coup with me that dethroned my stupid brother. He knew about it and warned Vladie, but he didn’t believe him. He exiled him and suffered soon after. He’s a worthless laughingstock.”

“I never thought of it like that. Only the stupid humans find him entertaining.”

“Yes, there’s nothing to worry about Shalone. I refuse to be defeated by the likes of him.”

“Now where is that tape?”

“Oh, right,” I realized before I ejected the tape and handed it to her. “There you go. Send this to one of Jodi’s advisors.”

“This is going to be fun. I have the perfect disguise too...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all for Book One. Stay tuned for Book Two: The Reunification of the Circle New York.


End file.
